Thoughts from today's game. . .
Offense>Obviously awesome. Hernandez is more of a true leadoff hitter than Milledge is/was and it's only going to get better when Guzman steps in. It's one game, but Johnson looked very comfortable in the 2-hole (and was named the player of the game). Zimmerman screwed up biggie on the GIDP, but came through later. Adam Dunn set the tone and is seeing the ball really well. When Dukes hit his homer I turned to CMDTerps and I said, "the only way I can describe Dukes: a beast", so yeah
you have that affect on people haha. Flores was pretty worthless tonight and is only batting .227. Alberto Gonzalez has been lights out.
Defense>Not much really going on. Most plays were pretty routine. Martis had the big out - the comebacker to him to end a rally in the 6th inning.
Pitching>I said Martis would go 6.1, give up 5 hits and surrender 2 runs, what do you know. It happened. He was pretty darn good. Not outstanding and I know he can do better, but he delivered the first Nats quality start of the year. He threw a lot of balls, especially in the early going, but did his job and gave us what we needed. Mike "Money" Hinckley was excellent coming in, big situation on hand, and got the job done. Beltway Beimel was nasty, a couple fans near us asked - who is this guy - then I explained he was a Dodger and they were like oh yeah and they remembered him and acknowledged he's nasty. Joel came in too for the quick 1-2-3. Hopefully, our other starters realize they have to throw strikes and let our defense take over.
Coaching>Solid job. Made the right moves w/ the pen and the pinch hitting (Willingham - brilliant). Great call sending Martis out for the 7th (not just b/c I said 6.1), his limit was down and he did his work.
Atmosphere>Eh, not bad. Beautiful night and I was expecting a lot more Phillies fans - well more vocal - than the Opening Day turnout. It happened. Though, the solution to getting rid of the pests (Braves/Mets/O's/Phillies/Yanks/Sawx) is to build an early lead and then blow them out. It happened. So, they weren't that big of a problem.
Uniforms/Food/Misc>As I said, it was a beautiful night and a great result. I LOVED those uni's tonight. They looked awesome and I think the club liked them. It was military opening night, so that's why they wore them ... I look forward to the next time they wear them, I really think they look sharp (especially in person). Had a Nats Dog for the first time in a while - didn't go with my ritual Curly W Pretzel - and it was solid.