ATLANTA – Daniel Murphy was a huge hit in his Washington debut with a home run and a go-ahead double in the 10th inning, and the Nationals rallied past the Atlanta Braves 4-3 in their season opener Monday.
NL MVP Bryce Harper also homered in his first plate appearance of the season, and the Nationals made a winner of Dusty Baker in his first game as their manager.
Washington tied it in the ninth on Michael Taylor’s sacrifice fly to shallow center field. Atlanta nearly escaped with a game-ending double play, but Jayson Werth scored when catcher A.J. Pierzynski dropped Ender Inciarte’s accurate throw that beat Werth to the plate.
Murphy’s one-out double to left off Eric O’Flaherty (0-1) drove in Ryan Zimmerman from second base. Zimmerman reached on a two-base throwing error by second baseman Gordon Beckham.
Murphy also walked twice in his first game since leaving the rival Mets as a free agent and signing a $37.5 million, three-year contract with Washington. The 2015 NLCS MVP set a postseason record last year by hitting a home run in six consecutive playoff games.
Freddie Freeman and Adonis Garcia homered against Nationals ace Max Scherzer, who gave up two runs and three hits in seven innings.
Blake Treinen (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for Washington. Jonathan Papelbon got three straight outs for the save.
The Braves took a 3-2 lead in the eighth. Shawn Kelley, who replaced Felipe Rivero with the bases loaded, threw four straight balls to Garcia to force in a run.
Harper homered into the right-field seats off Julio Teheran in the first inning. Only 23, the slugger already has four career homers on opening day. He homered twice in the 2013 opener and also connected last year.
Teheran allowed two runs on five hits and three walks in six innings.
Baseball’s new “Chase Utley Rule” cost the Braves a baserunner after Nick Markakis walked in the seventh. On Hector Olivera’s grounder to third, Markakis slid wide of second base, upending Murphy, whose throw to first was late.
Olivera was ruled out at first for a double play because the slide by Markakis took him too far inside the bag. Murphy pointed to Markakis immediately after the play.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez left the dugout briefly but did not argue the call.
The Braves opened their 20th and final season at Turner Field. They will move into new SunTrust Park in suburban Atlanta next season.