Seventh-inning rally erases Nats’ 6-2 deficit
The crowd at Nationals Park wasted no time. When third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was announced as a starter prior to Tuesday’s home game against the St. Louis Cardinals, a loud cheer went up from the stands.
It was as much a roar of relief as anything. Zimmerman hadn’t played since April 9 thanks to a torn abdominal muscle and subsequent surgery on May 3 and the Nationals’ hapless offense has looked lost without him.
Zimmerman warned before the game that his presence alone will not provide instant relief. He is but one player, after all. Point taken. But his teammates were still glad to have Zimmerman back. And their joy was only compounded after a six-run seventh inning capped a thrilling comeback in an eventual 8-6 Washington victory.
| Nats notes |
| » To make room for third baseman Ryan Zimmerman on the 25-man roster, the Nationals optioned right-handed relief pitcher Craig Stammen to Triple-A Syracuse. For now that leaves the club with 11 pitchers — and just six in the bullpen. |
| » Nats outfielder Rick Ankiel started the game but left with a strained left intercostal muscle before even getting an at-bat. He is listed as day-to-day. |
| » Roger Bernadina took over for Ankiel in center. He drove in Washington’s first run with an RBI single in the fourth inning and another run scored on his double-play grounder in the sixth. |
| UP NEXT |
| Cardinals at Nationals |
| Kyle McClellan (6-2) vs. Livan Hernandez (3-8) |
| When » Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. |
| Where » Nationals Park |
| TV » MASN |
The Nats (31-36) had scored 12 runs total in their previous six games. Like his teammates have for weeks now, Zimmerman looked rusty at the plate early with two quick strikeouts and a double-play groundout with two runners on base and one down in the fifth inning. But for one night at least, Washington’s bats came alive.
In the end, Zimmerman doubled home the first run during that seventh-inning rally to help erase a 6-2 deficit. Michael Morse had an RBI groundout and Danny Espinosa and Jayson Werth each produced RBI singles. St. Louis reliever Trever Miller threw a bases-loaded wild pitch to allow another run to score. But Laynce Nix had the key at-bat, an epic 11-pitch sequence where he finally drew a bases-loaded walk to push home the go-ahead run. Zimmerman may have returned, but he didn’t have to win it by himself.
“I can’t win eight games in one game,” Zimmerman said prior to Tuesday’s contest. “Nobody can do that. Our defense and pitching has been unbelievable this year. Unfortunately, our offense has been banged up quite a bit.”
Washington has been anxiously awaiting Zimmerman’s return after 58 games out of the lineup. The Nats’ team OPS entering the night was .661, which ranked 26th among all MLB teams. Their slugging percentage was .360 (25th) and their on-base percentage was .301 (28th). The bats just aren’t helping a starting rotation that ranked 11th with a collective 3.79 ERA and a bullpen that ranked sixth (3.17 ERA).
The abdominal injury began bothering Zimmerman during spring training, but he took some time off and was ready to go for Opening Day. He made it just eight games before heading to the 15-day disabled list April 10 following a headfirst slide into second base the day before against the New York Mets.
After an attempt at rehabilitation, Zimmerman had surgery on May 3. It’s not the first long stretch of games Zimmerman has missed in his career. A shoulder injury cost him 47 straight games in 2008. He also missed a few games with a hamstring injury in April last season and then the final 10 games of 2010 with an intercostal strain unrelated to this year’s injury. Otherwise, Zimmerman has been durable. He played in 157 games in 2006, all 162 in 2007 and 157 in 2009.
“I think it’s been a long, frustrating two months. I’ve had to be patient,” Zimmerman said. “But we think we went about it the right way and made sure that we gave myself time to be as close to 100 percent as I can be when I get back and still be effective … without having to come up here and play a couple of games [and then]take a day off. I don’t think that’s very fair to me or the team.”
