There are big league parks that have started to display exit velocity on the scoreboard. Luckily for Jeff Samardzija, Nationals Park isn’t one of them.
The right-hander gave up two homers among his five runs and some of his outs were just as loud as the balls that left the yard. The Giants countered with just four hits. You can do the math. They lost 5-1 to the Nationals, dropping to 2-10 on the road in the second half.
Samardzija gave up two runs in the first and another in the third. Speedy rookie Trea Turner took him deep in a fifth inning that included a pair of fly outs to deep left, and Wilson Ramos hit a solo shot to dead center in the sixth.
Angel Pagan provided all the Giants offense with a solo homer, his eighth. It was one of just two hits off Gio Gonzalez, who went seven dominant frames.
Starting pitching report: Samardzija has allowed multiple homers in three of his last four starts and he’s fifth in the NL with 21 for the season. Last year, Samardzija tied for the AL lead with 29 homers allowed.
Bullpen report: George Kontos had a clean eighth.
At the plate: Denard Span, a National the past three seasons, got a nice ovation before his first at-bat and tipped his cap. He was 1-for-4 with a single.
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In the field: Wasn’t Daniel Murphy supposed to be a defensive liability? He made a nice throw to nab Span at first with two outs and two on in the eighth.
Attendance: The Nationals announced a crowd of 34,036 human beings who DVR’d the Opening Ceremony.
Up next: Matt Cain makes his first start since Bruce Bochy decided to leave him — not Jake Peavy — in the rotation. He’ll face Stephen Strasburg, who is only 15-1.
