Nationals rally for walk-off win in opener vs. Braves [UPDATE]

Final: Nationals 6, Braves 5 — The Nationals fell behind early but were able to rally for a 6-5 win on Tuesday in their season opener. Scherzer bounced back after allowing four HRs and settled down to fan nine batters over 6.0 IP. Juan Soto’s RBI single in the ninth gave the Nats a walk-off win. Acuna and the Braves didn’t do much after belting the four homers off Scherzer. Drew Smyly started for Atlanta and gave up 2 ER with 8 Ks over 6.0 IP.

The Atlanta Braves struggled mightily on offense to open up the regular season en route to getting swept by the Philadelphia Phillies. Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna Jr., and Ozzie Albies were a combined 2-33 at the plate last week, which is highly abnormal.

But the Braves did not let their Opening Weekend woes carry over into Tuesday afternoon against the Washington Nationals in their regular-season opener. With Ace Max Scherzer on the mound, Atlanta jumped out to an early 3-0 in the first inning, thanks to a first-pitch solo home run from Acuna.

After Acuna went yard, Freeman followed up with a solo home run himself, increasing the Braves lead 2-0. Then in the second inning, Atlanta shortstop Dansby Swanson joined in on the fun as he hit a solo home run. In the next inning, Acuna hit his second home run of the day to put the Braves lead back up 4-2.

Heading into Tuesday afternoon’s contest, Acuna was valued at $5,600 on DraftKings and has already accumulated 28 fantasy points. For Scherzer, this the first inning and home runs has not been too friendly for him in his career. Coming into Tuesday, he had allowed 43 home runs in the first inning, which is the second most over his career.