Weather: 81 degrees, partly cloudy
Time: 2:42
Attendance: 0 (as no tickets were actually sold, plenty of empty seats and space for the kids to roam)
Section 129, Row H, Seats 11-13
For the first time this year, the Nationals
had two exhibition games at Nats Park just prior to Opening Day, instead of just
one. The 6:00 Friday game was basically for season ticket holders only, with
general admission tickets and only the lower level of the stadium open. I took
Metro and got there at 3:00 expecting a long line, but was pleasantly surprised
to find myself among the first to arrive. While I wasn’t able to outrace all of
the younger folks who were also heading for the prized seats behind the Nats’
dugout, we did wind up in that section, just 5 rows back. Even better, we had
friends on either side of us, as we wound up occupying 11 of the seats in the
row. Although the weather forecast was ominous, we had no rain at all, although
there was quite a bit in sections of Montgomery County.
The Nats struck quickly in the first,
notching two on a leadoff triple by newcomer Ben Revere followed by a Rendon walk,
Harper sac fly and Zimmerman double. They added one more in the third on
consecutive doubles to start the frame by Revere and Rendon. The Twins came
back to tie in the top of the fourth, however, with 4 consecutive hits off
Tanner Roark. Both pitching staffs then tossed goose eggs until the bottom of
the eighth when the Nats took the lead in unexpected fashion, keyed by a double
off the bat of pitcher Blake Treinen.
All of this set the stage for the first Nats
Park appearance by Jonathan Papelbon since the infamous “Papelchoke” game last
September. The reception as he entered the game was decidedly mixed (we
estimated a 35% favorability rating), but the controversial closer turned the
boos to cheers with a 1-2-3 save featuring two strikeouts.
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