Reynaldo Lopez was welcomed to Nationals Park on Tuesday night with a standing ovation from fans on the first-base line as he trotted from the bullpen to the dugout.
The crowd’s joy around the right-handed rookie’s major league debut against the Los Angeles Dodgers, however, was short-lived.
Despite delivering the heat—hurling fastballs that flirted with triple-digit speeds—Lopez gave up a leadoff homer to Chase Utley on just his third pitch of the night. His first two innings in the majors would feature seven hits, four earned runs and two mound visits from pitching coach Mike Maddux.
The starter responded with two scoreless frames in the third and fourth and managed total nine strikeouts, but was replaced by Matt Belisle in the top of the fifth after two more Dodgers runs.