WASHINGTON -- Luis García demonstrated his power stroke and starter Trevor Williams was solid again, but the Nationals' bullpen faltered late to the Guardians in a 4-3 loss on Friday night at Nationals Park.

García slammed a line-drive solo homer over the left-center-field wall for his first of the season in the fourth inning, part of a three-run rally that opened the scoring.

"When he can hit the ball in the middle of the field like that and drive the ball like that, [he’s unstoppable],” manager Dave Martinez said. “That wasn't just a fly ball home run; he crushed it. That's what he can do. He's got to stay on the ball and continue to work in the middle of the field."

The long ball marked García’s first homer since Oct. 1, 2022, and second extra-base hit of the season. The 400-foot blast had an exit velocity of 106.7 mph.

The no-doubter was a welcome sight for a starting nine that boasted just five home runs entering the series opener. And García’s chance to run around the bases was a positive for the infielder who missed four games last week with left hamstring tightness. García finished 2-for-3 with two walks.

"I felt very good today at the plate,” he said through team interpreter Octavio Martinez. “I felt my body was under control, and I was able to see pitchers very well. [I want to] keep working, keep this feeling going.”

Alex Call added a two-run single as the Nats connected off Guardians starter Cal Quantrill for three singles and a homer for a 3-0 advantage. Call leads Washington with nine RBIs.

For his part, Williams induced seven infield outs and a strikeout in the first four innings, including four dribblers between the pitcher’s mound or first base for easy outs. The right-hander lasted five innings for the third consecutive start to begin the season, allowing one run on four hits with two punchouts and two walks.

"As a pitcher, you execute your pitches to the best of your ability and just hope they hit it to one of the seven guys behind you,” Williams said. “That third and fourth inning, they made some early hard contact, got some lineouts, which was huge for the pitch count. You do your best and try not to hunt strikeouts knowing that they are not going to swing a miss a lot."

Victor Robles’ misread of a scorching line drive to deep center off the bat of Amed Rosario in the sixth led to a ground-rule double. José Ramírez followed with a single that ended Williams’ night. The Nats' infield defense momentarily protected the lead with a double play engineered by CJ Abrams and Hunter Harvey’s strikeout of Andrés Giménez. Cleveland managed only one run in the frame but tacked on two more in seventh.

Former Nats slugger Josh Bell’s first homer of the season was the highlight off Harvey. Bell later added a key double in the eighth as Cleveland rallied to plate the go-ahead run off Carl Edwards Jr., with the reliever’s fielding error off a Giménez comebacker to lead off the frame creating the opportunity. Harvey and Edwards Jr. combined for four walks.

"We are the underdog coming in the year, and the guys are battling,” Harvey said. “The starter did his job. We just didn't execute tonight coming out of the 'pen. It happens. Obviously, it stinks. We don't want to do that, especially when Trevor pitches his butt off like that and keeps us in the game. [We'll] come back tomorrow and try to do it again."

One issue that continues to hurt Washington is not being able to put together big innings. The club left 11 men on base and was only 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. With the loss, the Nats fell to 1-4 in one-run games.

“Tough to lose a game like that when you are up, 3-0, and you've got your bullpen out there that has been rock solid,” Martinez said. “We've got to do a better job of hitting with runners in scoring position. We really do."