Cole uneven through three frames (Nats lose 10-5)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - There's been both good and bad from A.J. Cole today against the Astros. But enough bad to outweigh the good and put the Nationals in a 3-0 hole after three innings.

The good? Cole has been very aggressive, challenging hitters and moving the ball around the plate, resulting in a pair of strikeouts each against Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, two of the more dangerous hitters in the Astros lineup.

After yielding a solo homer to Marwin Gonzalez with one out in the first, Cole didn't buckle. He got Altuve looking and Correa swinging to escape the inning. Ditto for the second, when Cole gave up a one-out single to AJ Reed, then got Max Stassi to bounce into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

The bad? Well, it's been concentrated to one inning - the Astros' two-run third, when three straight hits and some bad luck conspired against the right-hander. Jon Kemmer led off with a single and went to third when Tony Kemp's fly ball to left was either misjudged by Brian Goodwin or got a fortuitous burst of wind at the right time and wound up going for a double. Josh Reddick followed with a two-run single to the left of the second base bag where a shifted fielder would have been.

The Nationals have struggled against Astros righty Charlie Morton, with six of the first nine hitters striking out and Anthony Rendon's leadoff infield single in the second their only hit through two innings. In the third, Wilmer Difo and Howie Kendrick singled with two down, but Bryce Harper skied to center to end the threat.

Cole is out after three innings, having allowed three runs on five hits with no walks and four strikeouts. He threw 49 pitches, 28 for strikes.

David Goforth came on in relief, walked a batter and then coughed up a two-run homer to Reed for a 5-0 Houston advantage.

Update: Just back from the clubhouse after speaking with Cole. Here are his comments:

On his outing today: "I went in trying to get ahead of guys this time and fell behind. Made it real hard to pitch. I was trying to go in there with my secondary stuff working for strikes. I was happy with it, but the strike part, I was just a little down. So next game, we'll see how it goes then."

On his pitch placement: "I'm not trying to have a rhythm or anything like that. So I'm trying to get it up. When I go up, usually I want it above the chest, above the letters a little bit. I wanted it in and out - push it in and out - I don't want them to keep leaning over the plate."

On his opportunity to nail down the fifth starter's job: "I come in with the same attitude as every other year, just compete and show what I've got."

The Nationals are finally on the scoreboard, courtesy of José Marmolejos' first homer of the spring. Chris Dominguez led off the fifth by doubling off the base of the wall in left and Marmolejos launched a 1-1 James Hoyt pitch toward left-center, the ball carrying over the wall.

Update II: With two down, the Nats rallied again. Harper singled and was replaced by pinch-runner Adrian Sanchez, and Rendon walked and was replaced by pinch-runner Kelvin Gutierrez. Matt Wieters slapped a run-scoring single to center, cutting the Astros lead to 5-3.

Kemmer homered off Erick Fedde in the sixth to make it 6-3.

Update III: Sanchez slapped a two-run single with the bases loaded in the sixth and the Nats trail by a run.

Update IV: Roman Mendez walked the bases loaded in the eighth and Alejandro Garcia cleared them with a double, then scored on Ryne Birk's triple, chasing Mendez. The Astros lead 10-5.

Update V: That's the ballgame. Final: Astros 10, Nationals 5.