Rookie's homer off Ross gives Cards early lead (Nats win 2-1)

Joe Ross has pitched effectively so far against the Cardinals, just as he did when he faced this same team four weeks ago. Mike Leake also has pitched effectively so far against the Nationals, unlike he did the last time he saw this lineup.

Aledmys Diaz's leadoff homer in the top of the fourth gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead, the lone run to cross the plate so far in tonight's series opener at Nationals Park.

Ross already owns one win over the Cardinals this season, having held them to one run in six innings last month at Busch Stadium. He picked up right where he left off tonight, facing just one over the minimum through his first three innings.

The right-hander allowed a leadoff single to Jeremy Hazelbaker but quickly erased that with a less-than-conventional double-play grounder. After Diaz grounded to second, Hazelbaker avoided Stephen Drew's tag. Umpire Mark Carlson, though, immediately called Hazelbaker out for running outside the baseline.

A nice sliding catch by Jayson Werth got Ross through a scoreless second inning. Ross then pitched around a one-out walk of Greg Garcia in the third, keeping the game scoreless.

But then came the top of the fourth, and that's when the Cardinals started to use what they learned about Ross the previous time up. The young pitcher has held opponents to a .149 batting average their first time through the lineup, but then it starts getting ugly. Opponents are hitting .296 their second time up against him, then .320 their third time up.

Sure enough, Diaz made the most of his second at-bat tonight, crushing an 0-1 slider off the back wall of the left-field bullpen for a solo homer. Moments later, Matt Adams sent a sharp single to left-center. Ross did get out of the inning without suffering any more damage, but the Cardinals did make him work, leaving his pitch count at 72.

Leake, meanwhile, was more efficient early on, holding the Nationals scoreless through his first four innings. Two hits came in the bottom of the second, via singles by Anthony Rendon and Drew (who is playing in place of Daniel Murphy tonight), but both runners were stranded. Two more reached base in the fourth, also left stranded.

Among Leake's victims: Bryce Harper, who already is 0-for-2. The slumping slugger struck out in his first at-bat despite initially being ahead in the count, 3-0. He then grounded out on the first pitch he saw in the fourth.

The Nationals are trying to duplicate their collective effort against Leake from their last meeting in May, when they totaled five runs in seven innings against the right-hander.

Update: This is now a tie game after six, thanks to none other than Harper. With a mighty swing, he crushed a 1-1 curveball from Leake off the facade of the third deck. That's a 434-foot bomb, easily Harper's best swing in a long time. Not to mention his first homer since May 4.

Update II: Make it 2-1 Nats thanks to another bomb to right, this one from Danny Espinosa. It landed in the second deck, not quite Bryce territory but close enough. Espinosa's homer came shortly after Ross pitched his way out of a big jam in the top of the seventh, inducing a double play from Kolten Wong on his 110th pitch of the night. Now this game is in the hands of the Nats bullpen to close out.

Update III: That'll do it. The Nats hang on for a 2-1 victory, getting a scoreless eighth from Felipe Rivero and a scoreless ninth from Jonathan Papelbon (making his first appearance in six days). They improve to 4-0 vs. St. Louis this season, taking the first game of this four-game weekend series.