The temperature at Nats Park clearly had an impact on both the Washington Nationals bats and arms Wednesday night, but the April chill wasn’t enough to stop the club en route to their second win of the season, a 3-0 decision over the Miami Marlins.

Gio Gonzalez threw six scoreless innings in this, his first start of 2013, but he was far from regular season form. The lefty only spotted 55 of his 91 pitches for strikes on the night, and gave up two free passes, including one to the Marlins starter Kevin Slowey.

It was the kind of evening where you could tell Gonzalez was getting by on his craft, rather than his stuff. His fastball danced around 90 while his curveball was inconsistent in producing outs. While he did manage five strikeouts, he was often behind in the count and relied on some weakly hit balls to get out of jams. Gio has expressed in the past that he has difficulty locating pitches when it gets colder outside, but its certainly a trend we’d like to see bucked when October baseball comes around.

Gonzalez did boost the Nationals poor offensive showing early by taking matters into his own hands. His fifth inning solo home run off Slowey gave Washington a 1-0 lead, which was all they would need on the night.

Some Thoughts: 

This was a strong second win for the Nationals, as the team's bats slowly began to come alive. Still, it is really hard to gather much from these games, as the Marlins aren't really much of an opponent. That's not to put the Marlins down by any means, but their roster was completely gutted by their front office this offseason, leaving them with a starting lineup of journeymen and youngsters. So while it's great that Nationals opponents are scoreless against them through the first 18 innings of the years, those numbers must be taken with a grain of salt. 

A Few Nuggets:

- Bryce Harper was 2-4 with a single and a double, extending his hitting streak to 11 games dating back to last season. 

- Ian Desmond seemed to struggle a bit with his throws tonight, potentially due to the cold weather. He had a throwing error in the second after an outstanding play with the glove. Several other throws to first baseman Adam LaRoche seemed off but were snagged by the club’s Gold Glover at the bag.

- Drew Storen made his first appearance on the mound at Nats Park tonight since blowing a save in Game 5 of the NLDS against the Cardinals last fall. The former Nationals closer retired the side on 14 pitches, tallying one strikeout.

- Ryan Zimmerman earned his first hit of the season with a triple to right. Giancarlo Stanton misplayed the ball of the wall.

- Marlins first basemen Kasey Kotchman left the game with a left-hamstring strain after attempting to leg-out a ball to first. He’s listed as day to day.

Welcome to the 2013 Opening Day episode of Nats Talk On The Go. As you'd expect, we spend essentially the entire podcast talking about the excitement that was Opening Day. We talk about the Bryce Harper home runs, Stephen Strasburg's great outing, and Ryan Zimmerman's great play, and the great crowd at the Park. Welcome back to baseball season, folks!

All of the excitement during the pomp and circumstance from the pre-game festivities didn’t take long to materialize into real excitement. The Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 2-0, though the game seemed more lopsided than the box score showed with the help of some dominant individual performances.

In his first at-bat of the season, Bryce Harper mashed a line drive home run to the right center field stands for a home run. It was a second-pitch curveball, which followed a splitter, which shows you how much he is respected, or feared, by MLB pitchers. He wasn’t nearly done yet, though. Later, in the fourth inning on a 3-2 slider, he put another ball in the right center field seats for his second home run of the season in his second at-bat of the season. Harper is the youngest player in the live-ball era to hit two home runs in his team’s Opening Day game, according to ESPN Stats and Info. He’s also the first defending Rookie of the Year to homer on Opening Day since Ryan Howard did it in 2006.

Harper also made a great play in the field to end the seventh inning. After catching a Rob Brantly fly to left, he used his arm to throw a strike to Wilson Ramos with Giancarlo Stanton tagging up to try to score. Stanton retreated to third, but with Placido Polanco, who was on first, trying to advance to second to draw a throw, the Nats infield played it perfectly. Ultimately, it was scored a 7-2-3-4-2 double play to end the inning.

The Nats offense was, otherwise, pretty quiet. Wilson Ramos reached twice with a walk and a hit, and Ian Desmond had a hit in the seventh.

The other major story of this Opening Day, besides Bryce Harper’s monster game, was Stephen Strasburg’s incredible start. He was able to dominate all of his pitches with his fastball reaching 98 mph on several occasions. He gave up a hit to start the game, but he then retired 19 consecutive batters before giving up his next hit. He had the Marlins hitters freezing with regularity on fastballs, the hitters obviously expecting something else. He made it through seven innings allowing just three hits and striking out three. He was pulled after just 80 pitches.

In the eighth, Tyler Clippard came on in relief. He struggled early with his command, walking Donovan Solano to lead off the inning, but he settled down to retire the next three batters in a lengthy 23 pitch inning.

The ninth inning was utterly dominated by closer Rafael Soriano in his Nats debut. He retired three batters in 11 pitches, and two of them struck out looking. On most of those pitches, Wilson Ramos never moved his glove to catch it. He was putting it exactly where he wanted it to go for his first save of the season.

The Nats have now won their Opening Day game for the second straight season, and it’s the second home opener they’ve won at Nationals Park. They take a 1-0 record into an off day before coming back for a 7:05 pm matchup against the Marlins on Wednesday.

Other notes:

-In the top of the first, Ryan Zimmerman made an incredible diving stop to his left and throw to first, which robbed Placido Polanco of a sure single and RBI and ended the inning. It allowed Strasburg to get into a rhythm  after allowing a leadoff hit to Juan Pierre.

It’s a beautiful spring day at Nationals Park. The sun is shining, music is playing, people are laughing, and the Washington Nationals are taking batting practice. It is Opening Day of the 2013 baseball season. This offseason lasted for what felt like forever, but it’s finally here. Welcome to the season you’ve been waiting for, perhaps more than any other since the 2005 Inaugural campaign.

The expectations have been written about on our site and others essentially since November. Today starts a new day, a new season, and truly a new year. For those of you who watch baseball passionately, there are few things better than today. Everyone is excited about the new, shiny, fresh season, and rightly so.

“How can you not be romantic about baseball?” is how the quote goes in Moneyball, and today is the ultimate example of that. Even with Sunday’s Opening Night matchup between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros, when the Astros are widely expected to be the worst team in baseball, a huge number of Astros fans showed up, and they were loud, as they beat the Rangers 8-2. Yes, it’s one game. But the Astros had no business winning that game, and they did. What’s more, they looked impressive doing it. It’s part of what makes baseball so great.

Compared to the Astros, the Nationals have the exact opposite expectations to deal with. They’re widely considered the best and most well rounded team in baseball, and the vast majority national baseball writers have predicted them to win the National League, and almost as many picked them to win the World Series. Starting today, the Nationals have 162 games to prove they can meet those mighty expectations.

For me, there’s nothing better than walking into a ballpark, and it’s that much sweeter on Opening Day when those expectations haven’t been tested yet. There is just unbridled excitement. Harness all that excitement until 1:05 pm today. Then, whether you’re in the stands, watching at home, or listening to the radio broadcast, don’t contain that excitement. Scream as loud as you possibly can in the stands, yell at your TV, mutter under your breath as you listen at your desk. No matter how you do it, let it go.

Baseball has arrived once more.

The Washington Nationals will open their highly anticipated 2013 campaign today at Nationals Park against the Miami Marlins, a team which is on the opposite end of the prognosticated success spectrum from the Nats.

When Sports Illustrated elected the Nationals as its World Series victor, and nearly every other set of predictions has the Nats going nearly as far, it became expected that they will beat teams like Miami, which finished last in the National League East last year. However, the Nationals have a history of struggling against the Marlins.

Since 2005, the Nats are 56-84 against the Fish (.392 winning percentage). They split 18 games evenly last season, and won six of nine at Nationals Park.

This year’s Marlins are rebuilding after trading in nearly their entire roster in exchange for prospects, while the Nationals are already built, and ready to win. So despite their past, there is no reason to think that the Nationals won’t be able to finish this season with their first winning record against the Marlins since 2007.

Marlins Makeover

The Marlins that the Nationals will play today are a nearly unrecognizable version of the team the Nats faced last year. After an off-season fire sale, just one of the Marlins’ Opening Day starters from last year is slated to start this season, and only two of last season’s starters remain with the organization at all (Logan Morrison and Giancarlo Stanton). Talk about a makeover. 

In addition to having an entirely different composition on the field, the Fish also have a new face in the dugout, with the addition of manager Mike Redmond. Redmond will take over for former-manager Ozzie Guillen, who was fired at the end of last season after serving for only one year in that role. This will be Redmond’s rookie season as a big-league manager, as prior to 2013 the highest post he held was manager for the Blue Jay’s Class A affiliate.

Giancarlo: Marlins’ MVP

Almost everything about the Marlins has changed since last year. The one constant, however, is right fielder Stanton, who hit .405/.463/.919 with five home runs off Nationals pitchers last season. The 2012 All-Star had the highest slugging percentage (.608) and the second-most home runs (37) in the National League last year, and went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a home run off Stephen Strasburg.

Any pitcher would be nervous to face him, but considering the caliber of the rest of the Marlins’ lineup, pitchers have no incentive to throw the slugger anything good to hit. One National forecasted that Stanton would draw 160 intentional walks this year, as reported in The Washington Post.

The Opening Battery

It was no surprise to the baseball community when Davey Johnson announced Strasburg as his Opening Day starting pitcher. A bit more surprising, though, was whom he chose to put behind the plate to catch for him. Originally, Johnson had said he would start the season with Kurt Suzuki so Wilson Ramos could be eased back into the program after he sustained a season-ending knee injury last May. However, Johnson saw how much effort Ramos was putting into his extensive rehab, and decided to reward him with “a carrot for hard work” by giving him the Opening Day job.

Johnson wants to alternate catchers every other day, so Suzuki is scheduled to catch for former-Oakland battery-mate Gio Gonzalez on Wednesday.

Who's Hot?

Giancarlo Stanton (RF) .359 AVG, .435 OBP, .718 SLG, 39 ABs (Spring Training)

Who's Not?

Adieny Hechavarria (SS) .183 AVG, .254 OBP, .283 SLG, 60 ABs (Spring Training)

In The Zone

Bryce Harper (LF) .478 AVG, .500 OBP, .716 SLG, 3 HR, 6 SB (Spring Training)

Probable Starters

4/1, Stephen Strasburg vs. Ricky Nolasco

4/3, Gio Gonzalez vs. Kevin Slowey

4/4, Jordan Zimmermann vs. Wade LeBlanc

Spring Training is officially over. The Washington Nationals have packed their bags and headed north, and that means real baseball is very, very close.

But before the 2013 campaign begins in earnest, the Nationals and their fans still have a few more days of preseason – that magical period when anything is still possible and expectations run high – a few more days when all 30 teams have a clean slate, a few more days of mounting anticipation.

Although there won’t be any Nationals games for two whole days before Opening Day, these two days are like the final deep breath before the plunge. They allow the anticipation to build until it bubbles over and you’re finally standing in Nats Park (or your living room), unable to suppress your cheers as the 2013 Nationals lineup is announced for the first time.

These two days provide an opportunity to reflect on all the reasons to be excited about the return of baseball and the potential of this year’s Nationals. At the Nats Blog, we wanted to know what would be filling your thoughts during these final moments in anticipation of the best day of the year. Thank you to everyone for your responses, and see you at Nats Park soon!

Nats fans, what excites you about baseball in 2013?

“To see if our heroes can rise from the heartbreaking defeat of Game 5 to finish what #Natstown has started. And hot dogs.” - @Munsonism

“Beers and sunshine with #Natitude.” - @dick_bowen

“[Baseball] means it’s summer. And…I think I’m catching Natitude; the Phanatic in me is slowly dying. I’m most excited to see the Nats possibly head to the World Series this year!” – Kayla G.

“I think it's impossible not to be excited when baseball returns each year. There's something about it that, if you've grown up in America, is sort of magical. It's never spring until the first pitch is thrown out and I can smell the freshly cut grass in the stadium.” – Paul S.

“For me, baseball a central element in my life. I did not miss but one or two games last year. It’s something you can count on being there every spring. I can remember the Senators leaving, and forcing me to travel to Baltimore to get my fix for more than 30 years. 
I’m not excited about THIS season rather I’m simply eager for it to begin. I want to see the Nats play competitive ball, I want to see them win more than they lose, but if they don’t win the last game of the season it won’t really matter to me, because I’m looking forward to the journey not the destination. I would like to see Davy go out with a ring. I think the youngsters in the dugout will do everything they can to get him one.”  - Carl W.

Dave Nichols of District Sports Page organized the 2013 Washington Nationals rountable this year, where a few Nats bloggers (including me) were asked to make predictions about the coming season. It's a seven-part series, and I'll be crossposting the links here as well as my answers to each of the questions.

In case you missed it, you can check out parts one, two, three, four, and five. In part six, we make the dreaded final record and division standings prediction. You can check out the post and everyone's responses here, and here is what I wrote about on the subject:

"A final record is the worst thing to have to predict of all baseball predictions. I always predict, and I’m rarely ever right. So, take this for what it’s worth. I expect the Nats to win the NL East with 97 wins. That’s my official number. However, can I see the Nats winning 105 or more games if everything goes according to plan? Definitely. And can I see the Nats at 90 wins with just a few key injuries? Yes."

Dave Nichols of District Sports Page organized the 2013 Washington Nationals rountable this year, where a few Nats bloggers (including me) were asked to make predictions about the coming season. It's a seven-part series, and I'll be crossposting the links here as well as my answers to each of the questions.

In case you missed it, you can check out parts one, two, three, and four. In part five, we talked about who we thought was the prospect to watch this season. You can check out the post and everyone's responses here, and here is what I wrote about on the subject:

"I know it’s the cliché answer here, but Anthony Rendon. Rendon showed in Spring Training why, if he can stay healthy, he will be a dominating force at the MLB level. The health will obviously be the biggest concern with him, as he’s shown a propensity for injury, but his potential is sky high. I look forward to taking a trip to Harrisburg this season to see him start up, and maybe we’ll even see him at Nationals Park at some point in 2013."