Ryan Zimmerman steps to the plate with the game on the line. Zimmerman delivers the clutch hit to win the game. Zimmerman is mobbed by teammates afterward.
Ho, hum.
Zimmerman has turned the art of the walk-off hit into a cliché the past three weeks, having delivered his third such at-bat in that time.
Zimmerman did it again in Thursday’s 8-7 11-inning victory over Florida as the Nats took three of four in the series. The Nationals’ rookie singled up the middle to score Brian Schneider with the winning run.
“He’s not a rookie anymore,” said Nationals pitcher Chad Cordero, who picked up the win. “Sometimes rookies crack under that pressure; he seems to feed off it.”
“You feel like,” Nats manager Frank Robinson said, “that there’s a legitimate chance he’ll do the job for you in that situation.”
With good reason: Zimmerman keeps doing it in those situations. He had walk-off homers to beat New York (June 18) and Florida (Tuesday). He popped out to first with two runners on to end the ninth inning Thursday, but got a second chance in the 11th.
“The first couple times you come up [in those situations], sometimes you’re amped up,” Zimmerman said. “The more you go through it, the more calm you are and more composed you are through the whole at-bat.”
Thing is, if not for the Nats’ bullpen, it wouldn’t have mattered. The bullpen tossed 9 1/3 innings of scoreless relief of starter Livan Hernandez.
The Nationals (38-49) used six pitchers — none lasted more than 2 1/3 innings.
A day earlier, the bullpen allowed 13 runs in eight innings. They also allowed 15 hits. That’s 12 more hits than they allowed Thursday.
Only Bill Bray and Gary Majewski pitched in both games. They also happened to be the only relievers who were effective Wednesday, allowing no earned runs and one hit. Thursday, they combined for three innings, no hits and one walk.
“I think we’re all a little tired,” said Cordero, who threw 42 pitches in two innings. “But that’s the way bullpens are. Sometimes you have to go out and suck it up no matter how tired you are.”
They did just that.
“They did an exceptional job,” Robinson said. “They shut them down. They were dominant. That was huge. We needed Livan to go deeper. Our bullpen was stretched to the maximum and each guy gave me what I needed.”
