Scenario 1: Henry Rodriguez has trouble with his command and comes up short in a pressure situation. Could We See This Coming? YES

Ryan Zimmerman is tagged out by Evan Gattis in the ninth inning of the Nats 2-1 loss to Atlanta Saturday. (Image: Daniel Shiry, USA Today)

Rodriguez was summoned to start the 10th inning of a 1-1 game, manager Davey Johnson forced into the move due to lack of options in the bullpen. Rodriguez came out throwing cheese, as per usual, but his 102-MPH fastball wasn’t finding the strike zone and he walked Atlanta’s first batter of the inning, Evan Gattis, on four pitches. After Ramiro Pena gave Washington an out by popping up a bunt, Gattis’s pinch-runner, Jordan Schafer, swiped second base.

We probably could have seen that coming too. Over Rodriguez’s career, he has allowed 38 of 40 attempted basestealers to reach their target. Speaking of Rodriguez’s ability to hold runners, Johnson told CSN’s Mark Zuckerman, “He can’t do it.”

Another walk, this one to Dan Uggla, set up Scenario 2, which is …

B.J. Upton gets the game-winning hit. Could We See This Coming? NO

Upton, making his first start since Wednesday as Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez tried to get him going, entered the game hitting .145. Gonzalez moved the free agent acquisition to the eight spot in the lineup, and a chorus of boos from the Atlanta crowd greeted Upton’s every failure. The one situation where you might think Rodriguez had an advantage, but instead, Upton hit a broken-bat looper into right. Roger Bernadina made a solid throw, but Schafer got there first, scoring the winning run and sending the Braves home happy.

All this could have been avoided, meanwhile, had the Nationals taken advantage of the huge opportunity which presented itself in the top of the ninth inning. Facing Braves closer Craig Kimbrel, normally as automatic as they come, Washington caught a break, getting a leadoff broken-bat single by Ryan Zimmerman and a double by Adam LaRoche, moving runners to second and third with no outs. Which leads us to Scenario 3, namely …

The Nationals have two men in scoring position with no outs and don’t get a run home. Could We See This Coming? YES

The way the Washington offense has been going for most of the season, and even more glaringly with Bryce Harper out of the lineup, getting a run here goes from a formality to pipe dream. Ian Desmond had the first opportunity, but looked at strike three. Bernadina then hit a chopper to third which allowed the Braves to gun down ZImmerman at the plate for the second out. Danny Espinosa then ended the “threat” with a fly ball to left.

The previous eight innings were a showcase of good starting pitching, for the most part. Gio Gonzalez and Tim Hudson each cruised through the opposing batting orders, both pitchers allowing just three hits in at least seven innings of work. It was more of the same for Hudson, who has shut the Nats down routinely in his career, while Gonzalez shook off a sketchy history against Atlanta and once again, deserved more than the no-decision he got.

Perhaps the bright spot for Washington was Scenario 4, which was …

No Nationals player got hurt in this game. Could We See This Coming? NO

With the departure of Stephen Strasburg from Friday’s game after two innings and Harper officially placed on the 15-day disabled list, the Nationals’ burgeoning injury list got even more impressive. Strasburg was diagnosed with a mild lat strain, and will play it by ear in regards to his next start. Harper, meanwhile, finally made his way to the DL, still gimpy from the left knee bursitis brought on by the Dodger Stadium wall. He won’t be back before June 11.

The Nats and Braves wrap up the series on Sunday afternoon, with Washington’s Nathan Karns (0-0, 6.23 ERA) making his second major league start against Atlanta’s Paul Maholm (6-4, 3.74).

But the anticipation surrounding this weekend series between the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals is September-like. If the rest of the games between the teams are anything like Friday’s kickoff, there will be a lot of chewed fingernails and empty antacid bottles strewn about both cities.

The Nationals jumped out to a 4-0 lead early on the Braves Friday, but couldn’t deliver a hammer blow, allowing the Braves to chip away at the Washington bullpen and tie the game in the ninth inning before winning a 6-4, 10-inning decision on the strength of a home run by little-used Ramiro Pena. It was the Braves seventh win in a row and the first loss of the year for the Nationals at home.

As in his first start of the year, Washington’s Ross Detwiler was the hard-luck victim, coming away with without a win after seven stellar innings, allowing only a home run to Chris Johnson. By that point in the seventh inning, Nationals fans were counting outs. But closer Rafael Soriano was given the night off after three straight appearances, and the rest of the Nationals bullpen couldn’t answer the bell.

Tyler Clippard began the eighth inning splendidly with back-to-back outs before his command deserted him. A single and three walks, one to B.J. Upton with the bases loaded, cut the Washington lead to 4-2 and prompted Nationals manager Davey Johnson to go get closer-for-the-night Drew Storen, who escaped the inning on a fly ball.

Denard Span swipes his first base as a Nat, but Washington falls apart late against the first-place Braves. (Image: Joy R. Absalon, USA Today)

And while the ninth was shaky for Storen, as the first two batters reached and were bunted over, the former first-round pick was in position to close the game out after catching Andrelton Simmons looking and intentionally walking left-handed hitting Jason Heyward to get to righty Justin Upton. Upton, who has been on fire at the beginning of this season, hit a chopper to third that Ryan Zimmerman probably should have just eaten for an infield single. But he instead tried to force Heyward at second, with disastrous results. The threw sailed into right field, allowing the tying run to come in as well. Storen then retired Evan Gattis, but the damage was done.

“Tough play,” Zimmerman said to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. “I think first base is out of the question. I’m not going to beat the guy at third. I thought if I turned and made a perfect throw, I had a chance to get the guy at second — bang, bang. Obviously Heyward is fast. It’s really tough as a competitor to catch the ball and throw it back to Drew and just have the bases loaded. In hindsight, that would have been the better play.”

Still tied in the top of the 10th, new pitcher Craig Stammen was also one batter away from closing the inning out. With Dan Uggla on first, Stammen made a mistake to Pena, who had entered the game as a pinch-hitter back in the ninth inning. With only two career home runs in more than 350 plate appearances, Pena was pretty much the last person you would expect to go yard there. But he did, giving the Braves a 6-4 lead and allowing nearly automatic closer Craig Kimbrel the chance to close the game out, which he did without trouble.

Detwiler deserved better. After his seven innings of work, he now sits with a season ERA of 0.69, but has exactly zero wins to show for it. Washington jumped on Julio Teheran for two runs in each of the first two innings, with Bryce Harper clubbing an oppo boppo for his fifth homer of the season. But Teheran settled down and Washington was left ruing the chance to get an early jump on what should be its closest rival for the NL East title this season.

The teams will go at it again Saturday afternoon at 1:05 PM at Nationals Park, with Atlanta’s Tim Hudson (1-0, 3.27 ERA) squaring off against Washington’s Stephen Strasburg (1-1, 4.38) in a battle of staff aces.

Stephen Strasburg and Paul Maholm locked up for a splendid pitcher’s duel for five innings before the Atlanta Braves finally broke through in the sixth, scoring six times en route to a 7-2 win over the Nationals in Viera, FL.

Aside from Ryan Zimmerman getting the start at designated hitter instead of third base, Davey Johnson‘s starting nine mirrored the expected Opening Day lineup Washington could send out to battle the Miami Marlins on April 1. Johnson took advantage of the balance in his every day starters, going lefty-righty all the way down the order. None of that mattered though, to Maholm, who threw five scoreless innings against the Washington A-team, allowing just two hits while striking out five.

Davey Johnson got five stellar innings out of Stephen Strasburg on Monday before the wheels fell off in the sixth. (Image: Derick E. Hingle, US Presswire)

Strasburg matched him throughout those five frames, striking out five as well and allowing just one hit and one walk. But sent out to start the sixth inning, the Nationals ace finally ran into trouble. Single, single, walk, single — the deadlock was broken and Strasburg’s day was done. Zach Duke relieved Strasburg and continued to cough it up, surrendering a pair of doubles, a single and a walk. By the time the dust settled, Atlanta had a 6-0 lead.

The Braves tacked on one more run in the 8th against Henry Rodriguez, still trying to recapture the form that made him a potential closer as recently as last season. The hard-throwing righty set down the first two batters he faced before giving up two singles and a hit batter to provide Atlanta’s seventh run of the day.

Washington finally broke through in the eighth against reliever Aaron Northcraft, with Carlos Rivero driving in a run with a single. Tyler Moore added a home run in the ninth to provide the final score, but Washington fell to 6-8 on the spring with the loss.

B.J. Upton and Blake DeWitt each had a pair of hits for the Braves, while DeWitt, Justin Upton and Ernesto Mejia all drove in two.

The Nationals are off on Tuesday, but will split the squad for a pair of games on Wednesday. Jordan Zimmermann will try to bounce back from his “dead arm” with an outing against the Mets in Viera, while Ross Ohlendorf will start for the road tripping Nats, who will travel to Kissimmee to battle Bo Porter‘s Astros.