Roark recovers for quality start, Nats add to lead (Nats win 8-2)

Tanner Roark's day is done after a solid recovery from his rough first frame. When the Nationals right-hander allowed two runs in the first inning, prospects for a good day seemed dim. But he bounced back to put together a quality start, finishing with two earned runs on six hits in six innings. Roark struck out five and walked three on the way to opening his season with a quality start. Roark held the Mets scoreless over his final five frames, buying the Nats time to come back, which they did with a run in the second and two in the fifth. Roark finished with 95 pitches, 62 after strikes, after throwing 31 pitches in the first. Before Roark was officially removed from the contest, his offense gave him and the bullpen some breathing room with a four-run seventh. Washington loaded the bases with one out and Adam LaRoche delivered with a two-run single to right. Ryan Zimmerman, who homered in the second, drove in his second run of the game with an RBI single to right. The Nats then pushed their lead to 7-2 when LaRoche scored on a throwing error. Ross Detwiler has come on to relieve Roark in the bottom of the seventh. Does this mean Jordan Zimmermann is healthy enough to make tomorrow's start? We'll find out later. Update: The Nats added a run on LaRoche's bases-loaded walk in the eighth, giving him three RBIs on the day and six on the season. Zimmerman finished with four hits and two RBIs. Detwiler pitched two scoreless innings before Rafael Soriano wrapped up an 8-2 win with a scoreless ninth. That gave Washington a series-opening sweep and a 3-0 record heading into this weekend's home series against the Braves.