OSAKA, Japan - Jeff Garcia traveled more than 5,000 miles for a cameo appearance, didn't look all that good in the short time he played and at this point it doesn't matter.

Far from home and playing amid the din of noisemakers and a raucous but smaller-than-expected crowd at the Osaka Dome, the 49ers lost, 38-7, to the Washington Redskins in an American Bowl that served as the NFL's exhibition opener.

Garcia was wildly off target a couple of times, finished 4 for 8 for 20 yards and was on the sideline, wearing his hat backward and giving a sideline television interview before the first quarter was over. Terrell Owens and most of the other regulars soon joined him, giving the team's younger players the seasoning they need to meld with the core group of veterans in hopes of mounting another playoff push this year.

"I would've liked to put some points on the board," Garcia said. "We had a nice second drive but we didn't finish it the way we wanted to. We had a couple of missed opportunities and missed passes that I'll get cleaned up. It's the first preseason game and we're just not quite clicking."

There were some immediate areas of concern, starting with an injury to guard Ron Stone, who suffered a hyper-extended right elbow while blocking during a botched first-quarter field-goal try. Stone will undergo an MRI exam in the Bay Area on Sunday.

And new Redskins Coach Steve Spurrier is still picking on cornerback Mike Rumph, only this time he beat him. Rumph, the 49ers' top draft pick who started in place of injured Jason Webster, never gave up a touchdown pass in his four seasons at Miami. And that included regular confrontations with Florida, where Spurrier coached for 12 years and won a national championship.

But if there was a knock on Rumph, it was that he sometimes had trouble turning and running with the receivers and that certainly was a problem in the second quarter. Derrius Thompson got 5 yards past him and Sage Rosenfels hit him downfield for a 65-yard touchdown that tied it at 7-7.

Rumph did come back to break up a Danny Wuerffel pass at the goal line in the third quarter and rookie safety Kevin Curtis stopped a third-down reverse on the ensuing play, forcing the Redskins to settle for a field goal.

Rumph was not the only one hurt by Spurrier, the former 49ers quarterback who had a reputation for running up the score at Florida. He also poured it on his old team, as Wuerffel and Rosenfels combined for five touchdown passes.

The 49ers wanted to see backup quarterback Tim Rattay play extensively to help him get more game-ready for the season. Rattay, who has just three pass attempts in his two years with the team, led the 49ers to their only touchdown, helping them out with a 22-yard scramble. Kevan Barlow finished the drive off with an 8-yard touchdown run.

"This is good for him," Coach Steve Mariucci said of Rattay, who was 9-of-13 passing for 80 yards in more than two quarters of play. "Our hope is to get Tim as many situations as possible. We did have a two-minute drill where we ended up with a couple of sacks with no points. Nevertheless, it was a situation he needed to be in."

The 49ers were without linebackers Derek Smith and Jeff Ulbrich because of sore hamstrings.

Center Jeremy Newberry did not make the trip to continue rehabilitating a right calf strain and the 49ers had Dave Fiore shift to center from left guard to compensate. Matt Willig started in Fiore's place at left guard.

The injury to Stone left the 49ers scrambling with their line. Chad Ward, rookie Eric Heitmann and Dave Kosta got into the game sooner than expected and Willig, who shifted from guard to tackle had to play longer than expected.

The patchwork line gave up five sacks, with Rattay going down twice and rookie Brandon Doman three times.

Ahmed Plummer, whose seven interceptions led the 49ers last year, picked off Rosenfels to give the 49ers an early highlight. But even though Plummer set the 49ers up at the Redskins' 35, the drive failed to produce point when a bad snap prevented Jeff Chandler from getting off the kick.

The 49ers' lack of defensive depth was also evident.

A blown coverage by the 49ers opened the door to the tiebreaking score by the Redskins. Rookie linebacker Frank Strong didn't get back into pass coverage quickly enough and gave up a 10-yard touchdown pass from Rosenfels to Robert Royal.

Washington went ahead 21-7 on Wuerffel's 14-yard scoring pass to Darnerien McCants.

In the fourth quarter, Spurrier gambled and won on fourth down as Thompson caught his second touchdown pass of the night, wresting it from rookie defender Teddy Gaines and tumbling into the end zone.

Gaines was beaten for a second touchdown when McCants got past him for a 44-yard pass in the late going.