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Nationals pitcher Livan Hernandez throws against the Diamondbacks. Hernandez picked up the win on Thursday in the team's home opener.

It sure felt that way to the players when Vinny Castilla’s triple rattled around in the right-field corner in the fourth inning, bringing home the Nationals’ first two runs in their new digs. The crowd cheered as if their team had won the World Series.

“I just looked at the fans,” outfielder Terrmel Sledge said, “and thought, ’We finally have a home-field advantage.”’

When the Nationals players entered the ballpark at 1:58 p.m., walking two-by-two down the right-field line, looking around and taking it all in, workers were putting the final touches on RFK’s $18 million makeover. One last-minute change: A new ad for an auto maker replaced a poster showing Castilla at the plate.

Maybe they should have left that up.

Castilla, who sat out the past two games with a sore right shoulder, went 3-for-3 with a double in the second, a two-run triple in the fourth and a two-run homer in the sixth — all off Arizona starter Javier Vazquez (0-2), who once pitched for Montreal.

“An ex-Expo pitching against us,” Wilkerson noted. “That was a fit, too.”

Starter Livan Hernandez (1-1) was downright dominant for eight innings, allowing one hit and letting only one runner reach third base. But he walked Gonzalez leading off the ninth before Shawn Green singled and Chad Tracy hit a three-run homer with one out.

That was Hernandez’s second troubling stretch of the day. He had a hard time driving to the game — something he wasn’t used to in Montreal.

“There was some traffic,” Hernandez said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be like that.”

Chad Cordero came on for the last two outs, earning his second save, though he did bring the tying run to the plate by giving up a single to Quinton McCracken. Cordero ended it by getting pinch-hitter Tony Clark to fly out to center.

Hernandez was a stalwart for the Expos, leading the NL in complete games and innings the last two years. Castilla was one of the additions Nationals general manager Jim Bowden made in the offseason, trying to improve a 67-95 team with a $50 million budget.

Castilla, who led the NL in RBIs for Colorado last season, gave Washington a 2-0 lead with his triple, driving in Jose Vidro and Jose Guillen. It was fitting that Vidro scored the first run — drafted by the Expos in 1992, he’s the longest-tenured member of the franchise.

“When I got out there, I saw the people, the stadium packed, and really I can feel that appreciation that we’re here,” Vidro said. “All those things together, this is something that we were looking forward to for a long, long time.”

Notes: The Diamondbacks’ four-game winning streak ended. ... Needing a single to complete the cycle, Castilla was hit on the left shoulder by a pitch from reliever Lance Cormier.

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