The Washington Nationals have won their home opener over the Cincinnati Reds, though they managed to do it in the most unconventional and roundabout way possible. With a 2-0 lead in the 9th inning, Brad Lidge came in for the save and gave up two runs on a two-out single by Ryan Ludwick, which forced extra innings, In the bottom of the 10th, Ryan Zimmerman scored a walk-off run on a wild pitch to give the Nationals the 3-2 victory.
The Nats' first two runs came in the 5th inning on a two-run single by Adam LaRoche that drove in Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa. Starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez had great day, going seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts, allowing just two hits and no walks in the process. Tyler Clippard got through the 8th unscathed, but Lidge couldn't convert the save one inning later.
Alfredo Simon had a bit of a nightmare in the 10th inning for the Reds. He got things off to a terrible start by hitting Zimmerman to put the winning run on base. He advanced to second on a Jayson Werth single and to third on a Xavier Nady groundout before scoring the winning run on Simon's wild pitch.
For more on this game and all things Washington Nationals baseball, please head over to Federal Baseball. For a view from the other dugout you can check out Red Reporter, SB Nation's Cincinnati Reds blog.