Well….. at least we had opening day. This afternoon was an example of the kind of lackluster, mediocre ball that I think a lot of us came into the season expecting to see. The Nationals got boatraced from the very beginning this afternoon, as the Cubs put up a four-spot in the second inning to take the lead against Miles Mikolas, and never looked back en route to a 10-2 Chicago victory.

With Cubs starter Cade Horton shutting down the Washington offense in the first two innings, his offense gave him all the runs he’d need in the bottom half of the second. Matt Shaw got the scoring started with a sacrifice fly, Miguel Amaya followed with an RBI single, and then disaster struck. Michael Busch popped a ball up into shallow left field and Nasim Nunez and Daylen Lile collided and the ball popped out of Lile’s glove leading to a Nunez error and two free runs. Another play that led to two runs was a flyball on the right field line that Luis Garcia Jr. couldn’t reach. Mikolas was the victim of balls dropping in that could have been caught. And was Mikolas tipping pitches with his changeup? It was the only pitch he had no swing and misses on. The second inning came to a merciful end one batter later with the Nats trailing 4-0.

The highlight of the game from the Nats’ offense came to lead off the fourth inning. James Wood was 0-6 on the season with five strikeouts heading into his second at-bat this afternoon, and turned all of that around with a 110 miles per hour opposite field home run for his first of the season. That run was immediately answered in the bottom of that inning, as Amaya deposited a sinker from Mikolas over the fence in left-center to extend the Cubbies’ lead to 5-1. Nasim Nunez responded for Washington in the top of the fifth with an RBI single, scoring Brady House to make it 5-2, but that would be the last noise the Nats would make today.

It was a rough Nationals debut for Miles Mikolas. The veteran righty was pulled after five innings, allowing an RBI double to Nico Hoerner in the fifth, and Miles exited the game trailing 6-2 and four earnies. His fastball velocity was down a whole tick from last season, and there’s a lot of talk going around that he was tipping his changeup. The Cubs seemed to have the heads up on his changeups today (as mentioned above), as he didn’t get a single whiff on that pitch, and hitters were quick to spit and slow to chase on that offspeed offering leading to walks. But he kid throwing it.

His counterpart, Cade Horton, had a great day, giving the Cubs 6.1 strong innings in his first start of the season, while only tossing 75 pitches in what was a very efficient start. Wood’s homer in the fourth was the first hit of the game for the Nats, and against Horton, they’d only put together three more as he cruised through the majority of his outing.

• Miles Mikolas: 5 innings, 6 hits, 6 runs (4 earned), 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, 97 pitches
• Cade Horton: 6.1 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs (both earned), 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 75 pitches

The Nats’ bullpen struggled for the most part this afternoon, with Ken Waldichuk and Andre Granillo both getting smacked around in their first outings with the club. Ian Happ greeted Ken Waldichuk with a three-run homer on Ken’s first pitch of the season, ballooning the lead to 9-2 in the sixth. The inning would go on, and following a single, a walk, and a botched fielder’s choice, Waldichuk walked Carson Kelly with the bases loaded to force home another run and make it 10-2.

Looking on the plus side, Cole Henry was the lone bright spot out of the Washington pitching staff this afternoon, as he made his season debut by tossing a scoreless eighth inning with a strikeout mixed in there. Offensively, James Wood‘s homer was the extent of the loud noise for the Nats today, but shoutout Daylen Lile for reaching twice, posting a single and a walk in his four at-bats.

After the game, the Nats made a trade to acquire the right-handed infielder Curtis Mead from the Chicago White Sox for catcher Boston Smith. To make room on the 40-man roster, LHP Jake Eder was DFA’d. Mead plays first base, third base, and also second base. His best defensive position might be second base. As a righty, is his defense better than Andres Chaparro who has struggled to scoop balls and get to grounders to his backhand.

The Nats will go for the series win tomorrow afternoon with another 2:20 first pitch. Jake Irvin will take the bump to make his season debut, looking to build off of a strong spring run to hopefully have a bounce-back season after last year’s struggles. He’ll be opposed by Japanese lefty Shota Imanaga, fresh off a new free agency contract with Chicago, and looking to return to all-star form. For now, go watch some college baseball, some college basketball, or anything to help you forget today’s game because tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to start the season with a series curly W!