Nationals 6, Braves 3
Rick Ankiel hit a long two-run home run and squeezed home another run against his former team Saturday to lift Washington to a 6-3 win over Atlanta at Nationals Park.
Ankiel's first homer with the Nationals (1-1) came in the third inning off Atlanta starter Tommy Hanson and proved to be enough support for starter John Lannan (1-0), who posted his sixth career win against Atlanta. The left-hander allowed a run and five hits and struck out three in five innings. Sean Burnett worked the last 1 1/3 innings to earn the save.
Hanson (0-1) didn’t return to the mound after a one-hour rain delay that halted play with two outs in the fourth. The right-hander gave up five hits and walked two, leading to four runs and left the game trailing 4-1.
Atlanta (1-1) got a solo home run from Dan Uggla, his first hit with his new club, in the sixth inning against reliever Chad Gaudin. Alex Gonzalez added a solo homer in the eighth inning.