Roark blanks Padres on three hits in 4-0 win

If you liked last night's offensive explosion from the Nationals, you'll like the start to this afternoon's game.

After one inning, the Nats have a 3-0 lead on the Padres. So much for any worries that a day game after a rain-delayed night game would lead to some sort of hangover. The bats are alive, all right.

After Tanner Roark dispatched the Friars on nine pitches in a 1-2-3 top of the first, the Nats quickly went to work. With one out, Anthony Rendon singled, Jayson Werth reached on an error and Adam LaRoche laced an RBI single to right for a 1-0 lead.

Ian Desmond followed with a run-scoring double and Danny Espinosa's sacrifice fly made it 3-0 against righty Andrew Cashner. Two Padres errors meants two of the runs were unearned, but it's a nice start on the heels of an 11-run, 17-hit effort Friday night.

Update: The beneficiary of the Nats' big first inning is making sure the offense won't go to waste. Roark has retired the first 12 hitters he's faced and fanned five. He's thrown 47 pitches, 33 for strikes, and has five groundball outs.

Update II: We're through five innings and still no hits for the Padres. Roark has benefited from a couple of nice defensive plays from third baseman Anthony Rendon, and the Padres are helping out by being aggressive and swinging early in counts.

Update III: Roark's perfect game is over with one out in the sixth. Rene Rivera singled under the glove of second baseman Danny Espinosa, a clean single that represents the Padres' first baserunner of the afternoon.

Update IV: Denard Span's RBI single in the sixth plated Kevin Frandsen to increase Washington's lead to 4-0. Roark is done seven innings, and has yielded two hits and fanned seven.

Update V: Roark finished off a three-hitter in a 4-0 win, his first career shutout and the Nats' first complete game of the season. He walked one, struck out eight and threw 73 of his 105 pitches for strikes.