The Washington Nationals have their first win of the 2011 MLB Season. They defeated the Atlanta Braves Saturday, with John Lannan earning the win while giving up only one run in five innings. Sean Burnett retired all three of the batters he faced to earn a save.
The Braves got one run back, narrowing the Nationals' lead to 4-2 in the sixth inning with a solo home run from Dan Uggla on Chad Gaudin's first pitch as a National as he came on in relief of John Lannan. Gaudin was pulled moments later after giving up a walk to Alex Gonzalez.
But the Nats answered back as a Rick Ankiel sacrifice fly brought home Ryan Zimmerman following the third baseman's triple. The two teams each added another run, giving the Nationals a 6-3 win.
Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos had productive days for the Nationals, each getting hits on three out of four at bats, while Adam LaRoche struggled from the clean-up spot. LaRoche went 0-5 today, with all five outs coming with runners in scoring position, according to Ben Goessling of MASNsports.com.
The Nationals wrap up the series against the Braves tomorrow afternoon.