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The Nationals and Dodgers have played 3 1/2 innings of their opening game at Nationals Park today, and after Chien-Ming Wang put them in a 4-0 hole with an ugly first and third inning, the Nationals rallied back to tie the game at four runs apiece.
Ryan Zimmerman drove Ian Desmond in with a double, Michael Morse followed him with another double and Jayson Werth connected on a two-run homer to tie the game. The shot also chased Chad Billingsley from the game in the third inning, which means the Dodgers have to spend six innings of the first game of a doubleheader using their bullpen.
That's an advantage for the Nationals, who probably shouldn't have allowed four runs thus far. Morse charged too far in on Juan Rivera's third-inning double, forcing himself to make a leaping attempt at it and letting it fall in for a double when he couldn't grab it. Had Morse read it right, it would have been an out. Zimmerman has also thrown out two runners at home on fielder's choices, though Rivera's first double came after Matt Kemp reached base on the first fielder's choice. Kemp scored on the play, and wouldn't have been on base if Zimmerman had thrown to first instead of throwing Gordon out at home.
But the big problem has been Wang, who's struggled with his location in the first three innings. The Dodgers already have six hits, though Wang rebounded with a scoreless fourth. The Nationals have bailed him out of one hole, and he'll have to try and keep them in the game from here.
