Haren trails again (Rendon's first major league hit is a big one)

There haven't been many innings that Dan Haren has completed this season in which he's held a lead. Four innings, to be precise. Haren trails again after three innings here tonight after allowing a two-run double to Allen Craig in the third. Denard Span nearly made a remarkable grab of Craig's deep fly ball to the wall in left-center, leaping at the fence and making a stab at the ball. The Nationals' center fielder got his glove on it but couldn't squeeze the third out, and the ball dropped at his feet, allowing Pete Kozma and Matt Carpenter to score. Kozma, by the way, was booed soundly in his first trip to the plate. One of the heroes of the Cards' National League Division Series win over the Nats last October, Kozma reached on a single to right that looked eerily like his base hit in the ninth inning of Game 5. Even having allowed the two runs, Haren's ERA dropped from 8.10, entering tonight's start, to 7.71. He's allowed three hits, a walk and struck out two, throwing 51 pitches (29 for strikes). It's 2-0 Cards after three innings, and the Nats have yet to record a hit off St. Louis starter Shelby Miller. The 22-year-old right-hander has held the Nats to just a Kurt Suzuki walk thus far. Update: Anthony Rendon's first major league hit was an RBI double ripped up the gap in right-center, and it's tied tonight's game 2-2. Rendon put together a great at-bat, seeing eight pitches, five of which came after he got two strikes on him. He then took a 95 mph fastball from Miller and smoked it to right-center, plating Ian Desmond with the Nats' second run. Desmond had just doubled one batter previously, bringing in Jayson Werth from first. Rendon got a nice ovation from the crowd here at Nats Park, and the baseball from that first hit will be waiting for him in his locker after the game.