The Washington Nationals' offense broke out early to start their weekend series against the Braves. The Nats got to Tim Hudson with a two-out rally in the first inning, posting four runs against the veteran righty. Bryce Harper singled to center to start the rally, and he was quickly moved to third on a Ryan Zimmerman double to deep centerfield.
With two outs, Ian Desmond came to the batters' box and took advantage of the two runners in scoring position. Desmond is one of the hottest hitters in the game right now and he put the bat on a patented Hudson sinker to send a grounder up the middle which brought home both Harper and Zimmerman.
Hudson was clearly not sharp at the start and he hit the very next batter, Danny Espinosa. Keeping the two-out rally alive, Rick Ankiel tripled on a fly ball to left that Matt Diaz could not get to. Both Desmond and Espinosa came home to make it 4-0. Hudson regrouped in the second inning and worked a brief 1-2-3 inning but Washington starter Ross Detwiler now has a four-run cushion to work with.
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