Washington, D.C. — They started a new season in a new ballyard, but Chipper Jones sensed something all-too-familiar about the Braves' opener Sunday night on the road at Nationals Park.

Ryan Zimmerman's hit a two-out homer in the ninth inning against reliever Peter Moylan to give the Washington Nationals a stirring 3-2 win and spoil the Braves' late comeback bid.

Rick McKay/AJC (ENLARGE)

Pitcher Tim Hudson had his fifth career Opening Day assignment and the second since he joined the Braves in 2005. He went 7 innings, retiring 19 batters in a row, while giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and one throwing error against the Washington Nationals in D.C.

Your Turn Who had the worst outing for the Braves in the season opener?   Peter Moylan -- Gave up game-winner   Yunel Escobar -- 0-3, 1 walk   Kelly Johnson -- 1-4, 1 strikeout, caught stealing   Mark Kotsay -- 0-3, 1 LOB Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

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"We've got to find ways to win those kind of games," said Jones, whose fourth-inning homer accounted for the Braves' only scoring until pinch-runner Martin Prado's tying run on a passed ball in the ninth.

"It's like one of those bad dreams from last year," Jones said, referring to the Braves' late-innings meltdowns in 2007. "We lost so many games like that."

Braves starter Tim Hudson pitching seven strong innings and got no decision, retiring the last 19 batters after giving up two runs and three hits in the first inning.

Catcher Brian McCann missed hitting a home run by about one foot in the second inning, then was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double when Nationals right fielder Austin Kearns played the carom cleanly off the wall.

"Bottom line, we didn't hit," McCann said. "That's the way to look at it. We had two chances to score and that was it. We made some mental mistakes on the bases early, and we just didn't hit.

"Huddy gave us a great chance to win, and we just didn't hit."

In other words, they didn't hit.

Nationals starter Odalis Perez allowed one run and four hits in five innings, but didn't get the decision against his original team. The left-hander was nonetheless impressive, particularly considering that he was unemployed two months ago before signing a minor league contract with the Nationals.

"Got to tip your cap to Odalis and the relievers they brought in," Hudson said. "They kept us at bay."

In his last two starts against the Braves, Perez had been rocked for 13 runs and 20 hits in seven total innings. The only balls hit hard against him Sunday were Jones' homer and McCann's near-homer.

"I believe sometimes it's just not in the cards for you," said Jones, softening his initial here-we-go-again characterization. "I mean, we scalded three balls tonight -- one went out of the park, two went off the top of the wall and came back in. It was just kind of meant to be."

The Braves trailed 2-1 until Mark Teixeira doubled off the right-field wall in the ninth. The Braves used their improved speed element to push across the tying run when Prado scored on a passed ball.

But a crowd of 39,389 didn't have to wait long for the Nationals to answer and make their ballpark christening a success. After Moylan retired the first two hitters in the ninth, Zimmerman drove a 1-0 pitch over the center-field fence.

Moylan said it was a "non-sinking sinker ... It's not the place you want to throw a sinker, high and away. It came back over the plate."

"Zim put us out of our misery," said Jones, not in a mood to celebrate his own distinction of being first to hit a home run at baseball's newest 'yard.

The Nationals scored two in the first against Hudson, who threw 29 pitches in the opening inning and then tossed only 49 over the next six. He had three strikeouts and issued no walks.

Hudson entered with a 5-1 record and 1.09 ERA against the Nationals, including 4-0 with a microscopic 0.60 ERA in four last season. He gave up three hits and two runs before his third out Sunday, two hits of the broken-bat variety.

"Huddy was outstanding," Jones said. "Just flat-out dirty. They kind of bum-rushed us there in the first inning, two broken-bat hits -- again, you know, normally those don't fall. They fell tonight."

Cristian Guzman single on the first pitch from Hudson, then advanced to third on the pitcher's errant pickoff throw to first base. Two strikeouts later, Hudson surrendered a two-out RBI double by Nick Johnson and Austin Kearns' run-scoring single.