As if the 2020 MLB season being shortened is crazy enough, the first game of the season is also shortened because of unforeseen circumstances that happens in baseball, this time in the form of a storm.
Halfway through the game while the Yankees were leading Washington 4-1, rain started to pour over Nationals Park with lightning close by, prompting a rain delay. After about an hour, the tarp started to come off the field, showing the possibility of the game resuming, until the rain started to pour heavily once again, forcing the end of the game while at the top of the 6th inning, giving the Yankees their first win of the season.
Gerritt Cole was Opening Day pitcher for the Yankees and his performance through 5 innings showed why the Yankees and their fans appeared to make the right call with signing him to a huge deal, as he made 5 strikeouts and only allowed one hit to Adam Eaton that turned into a home run. His performance gave him his first win as a Yankee and moved to Yankees to 1-0 on the season.
Max Scherzer made his 5th Opening Day start for the Nationals and for the third straight year in the row, Scherzer strikes out at least 10 batters to start the season, which is the longest streak of all-time. However, despite striking out 11 batters, Scherzer allowed a 2-run homer to Giancarlo Stanton in the top of the 1st and allowed an RBI double to Aaron Judge and RBI single to Stanton. For the second year in a row, Scherzer makes an exceptional performance with his strikeouts yet is unable to have his batters give him a win after his team was unable to do in last year’s Opening Day game against the New York Mets.
After only getting one hit through the 6-inning game, the Nationals will look to once again capture their first win of the season when they host the Yankees again on Saturday night when Stephen Strasburg, the 2019 World Series MVP, takes the mound for the first time this season against the Yankees’ James Paxton. But, the Nationals will once again be without the Juan Soto due to testing positive for COVID-19 before the game Thursday night and the Yankees will still have to wait to see when DJ LeMahieu will return to the starting lineup while he continues to recuperate from recovering from COVID-19.
Zachary Wilson 