Washington 9, Italy 6

VIERA, Fla. -- Done with his spring training rest, Anderson Hernandez got to hit.

Anderson went 1-for-3 in his first exhibition game, helping the Washington Nationals defeat Italy 9-6 Tuesday.

Washington manager Manny Acta delayed Hernandez's first game appearance because the infielder amassed an estimated 900 at-bats among spring training, Triple-A, the majors and two winter leagues. Hernandez is slated to be Washington's starting second baseman.

"That week off Manny give me felt good," said Hernandez, who was claimed off waivers from the New York Mets last Aug. 20 to complete a trade for reliever Luis Ayala. "I don't feel tired. It feels good. But sometimes you need to rest even when you don't feel tired."

Italy, starting a stretch of three exhibition games against major league teams, opens the World Baseball Classic on Saturday against Venezuela at Toronto. The Italians face Florida on Wednesday and the New York Mets on Thursday.

Hernandez grounded out sharply to first in his first two at-bats, then singled in the fourth.

He also made two sparkling defensive plays in the second. After Valentino Pascucci drew a leadoff walk, Hernandez made a nice pivot to turn a double play when Chris Denorfia chopped a slow grounder fielded behind the mound to shortstop Ian Desmond. Hernandez then dived headfirst to his left to snare Giuseppe Mazzanti's sharp ground ball in short right field before throwing Mazzanti out by two steps.

"He's a shortstop by trade, and a good one," Acta said. "Any time you move from the left side of the infield to the right side, you become better."

Washington won it on Roger Bernadina's three-run homer down the right-field line off Cody Cillo with two outs in the ninth. Italy had tied the game in the top of the inning on Gary Glover's wild pitch with a runner on third.

"I got a 3-1 pitch, a pitch I could handle, and I hit it out," said Bernadina, who also had two singles. "It's spring training, but it really feels good."

Right-hander John Lannan struggled with his command, but worked three scoreless innings of one-hit ball, allowing only an infield single and walking one.

Washington's Elijah Dukes had a two-run triple in a four-run third inning against Philip Barzilla, then hit a solo homer against Luca Panerati in the fifth for a 6-0 lead.

Pascucci's two-run drive off Wil Ledezma in the eighth closed Italy to 6-5. Pascucci played for six seasons in the farm system of the Nationals' predecessor, the Montreal Expos, reaching the majors for 32 games in 2004.

"It's always fun to play against a former team, especially when you have some success against them," Pascucci said. "You kind of rub it in a little bit, make them take notice what you've been doing".

Notes: Nationals C Jesus Flores will miss up to five days while he recovers from a mild right elbow strain, Acta said. A precautionary MRI on Monday revealed the injury. "We're going to keep him off any activities for four or five days and give him some medications. We're just going to nip it now, early in camp," Acta said. ... A blister on the left hand of Washington OF Austin Kearns has subsided to the point that he's almost able to grip a bat and begin hitting again. Kearns has been sidelined since Friday. ... Zimmerman leaped over the tarp along the left-field stands to snag a foul pop by Frank Catalanotto to end the top of the first. Washington 3B Ryan Zimmerman, who missed 48 games with a torn labrum in his left shoulder last year, made a basket catch before smacking into the padded concrete wall with his right shoulder.