WASHINGTON -- Enlightenment wasn't hard to find at Nationals Park Thursday night, even in such a game whose final score (a Red Sox 9-3 loss to the Nats) would have appeared to offer little.

By the time the Red Sox boarded their bus, heading off to Atlanta for the second leg of a nine-game road trip, the American League East division-leaders had learned quite a bit. Of course, that was not entirely unexpected given that the game represented the major-league unveiling of the 2009 version of John Smoltz -- in a Boston uniform, no less. But the lessons of the night were not limited to the 42-year-old pitcher and acclaimed accordionist:

Mike Lowell: Mike Lowell now knows that his hip is going to be an issue, at least for the time being. After the third baseman went 0-for-3, he relayed that the stiffness that set off some concern starting last Thursday hadn't gone away. It was a reality that was steering Lowell toward meeting with Sox manager Terry Francona and the team's medical staff on the way to Atlanta to decide if lubricating injections, along with more rest, would be the next step.

David Ortiz: You had Ortiz feeling the aches and pains of playing in the field for the second straight game. 

"I'm sore, man. I'm not used to this," he said, identifying his lower back as the area that took the brunt of the wear and tear. "(Fielding the position) wasn't bad, except for that one guy who almost killed me, chopped my head off. But by the sixth inning I was feeling it." (The chance Ortiz referred to was hit by Willie Harris in the third inning, and was originally ruled an error before being changed to a hit.)

Rocco Baldelli: Baldelli isn't swinging at the first pitch as much as he usually does, this season, but when it does it is paying off. This time it came in the form of a two-run, ninth-inning homer in the outfielder's only at-bat of the game. Thus far with the Red Sox Baldelli is 4 for 7 when putting the initial pitch in play, and is now hitting .376 in such situations for his career.

"Throughout my career I think I have swung at the first pitch, but this year I don't feel like I've done it as much. Sometimes when I'm pinch-hitting I like to see a pitch," Baldelli said. "But this time [Mark] Kotsay told me to go up there hacking so I did. I do whatever he tells me."

Ramon Ramirez: Ramirez can hit -- a former minor-league outifielder, he came into Thursday with two hits in four at-bats -- but you sure wouldn't know it by watching him end the game. With Red Sox manager Terry Francona prioritizing health of his team heading into the series with the Braves, the reliever was sent up to the plate to make the final out against Atlanta pitcher Tyler Clippard. He did a good job, swinging at a third strike which was almost over his head.

"It's been a while," Ramirez said. "I was swinging at that pitch no matter what."

Julian Tavarez: Tavarez said before the game that if he wasn't designated for assignment on May 11 of last season, and was still around during Manny Ramirez' July melt-down, things might have turned out differently. Then again... "I wasn't surprised," Tavarez said. "Manny had told me for a while he wanted to play on the West Coast."

All of this was somewhat interesting, to be sure. But the face of the matter was that when people went into Thursday night's game, they wanted to learn about one thing, and one thing only -- how Smoltz was going to perform in a Red Sox uniform. 

There was the obvious, such as the fact the 42-year-old gave up four runs in the first inning, struck out the side in the fifth, and finished with a five-inning, five-run, 92-pitch performance.

And then there were some things that weren't so expected. Here are some things we learned about Smoltz that are much more important than just a line-score.

1. He can still throw, and throw pretty hard.

It might not be the 98 mph that once accompanied his outings, but Smoltz touched 93 mph enough times to raise some eyebrows both in the Red Sox dugout and in the batters box.

"Regardless of him coming off rehab, he is John Smoltz," the Nationals' Willie Harris told MLB.com. "He kept us off-balance, but we were able to get to him. We were able to hit some mistakes. He was throwing hard. His velocity was there."

2. After the first frame, the pitches started finding their spots.

Throughout the troublesome initial inning Smoltz was leaving his pitches above the belt, which translated into a 35-pitch, four-hit, four-run re-introduction. But after that, with the reminder to keep his body over the pitching rubber as long as possible, the hurler started remembering how to do his thing.

"The ability to throw three and four pitches at times for strikes (was the most encouraging)," said Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell. "He still commanded his fastball better as the game went on. I think he realizes that he can use his fastball. There's some similarities here we've seen from (Curt Schilling) as a veteran pitcher transitions or makes adjustments after a certain time. Where he has the ability to trust his fastball even more, not having to pitch to his secondary stuff. That doesn't mean he's going to be a 90 percent fastball guy, but I think they fouled off a lot quality offspeed pitches down in the zone when he had enough velocity to keep guys honest."

3. Even old guys can get nervous.

Watching the pitcher who started the game, compared to the one who fanned Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham and Josh Bard to close out his outing in the fifth inning was like viewing two different images.

Prior to the start, Smoltz identified the struggles he had in two previous returns, when he kicked off his stint at the Braves' closer (April 6, 2002) -- a game in which he allowed eight runs on six hits over two-thirds of an inning -- and on April 5, 2005, when he returned to the starting rotation. That outing encompassed just 1 2/3 innings, finishing with Smoltz allowing six runs on six hits.

When you haven't pitched in more than a year, and have put your arm -- and, to a certain degree, reputation -- on the line, nerves (no matter what the age) are understandable.

"It felt different because I had 71 texts today. It felt different because so many people were, and have been, rooting for me. That's what frustrates you," Smoltz explained. "That's what I struggled with most in the first start. I wanted to do well for those people who have been so supportive. My buddy joked he flew up from Miami for one that lasted 1 2/3 innings. At least I got five innings today.

"I wanted to do so well for everybody involved. But then I found myself going, 'How did I get here? How did four runs just happen?' No matter if I'm 42 or 22, I feel like I can accomplish whatever I want this year. That's why I came back and rehabbed the way I did. Now it's just a matter of going out there and doing it like I did before."