Kennedy leads league after earning 16th win
It was not exactly your typical day at the old ballpark. The earthquake that struck central Virginia and carried up and down the eastern seaboard reverberated through Nationals Park as well on Tuesday.
The Arizona Diamondbacks couldn’t get through the massive traffic jams that plagued the District in the hours following the 5.8 magnitude earthquake. Instead, the club arrived from its Pentagon City hotel less than two hours before the scheduled 7:05 p.m. start time.
The Nats had a structural engineer examine the stadium to make sure it was safe for fans to even enter.
Nats notes
» Agent Scott Boras says client Bryce Harper, Washington’s top prospect, hopes to return from a hamstring strain in time to participate in Eastern League playoff games next month with the Harrisburg Senators.
» Nats officials said fans with tickets to Tuesday’s game who couldn’t make it thanks to the earthquake can exchange their unused tickets for ones of equal or lesser value to any remaining home game in 2011.
» Diamondbacks right fielder Justin Upton left the game after getting hit by a pitch from Jordan Zimmermann. He suffered a left elbow contusion. It was the fifth time Washington has hit Upton this season.
But a game that started on such an ominous note 21 minutes late cruised merrily along for six scoreless innings. After leaving one chance after another on the bases, however, Washington pitcher Jordan Zimmermann paid for his team’s lack of offensive punch. With one out and a runner on base in the top of the seventh, Sean Burroughs launched a two-run home run to break a scoreless tie and eventually lift Arizona to a 2-0 victory.
It was another crushing loss for Zimmermann (8-11, 3.10 ERA), who two weeks ago in Chicago suffered a similar fate. A 1-1 tie that afternoon turned into an eventual 4-3 loss when the Cubs hit a pair of seventh-inning homers off Zimmermann. Burroughs had not homered in the big leagues since April 30, 2005. For Zimmermann, there is likely just one more start left in his season before he surpasses the innings limit team officials set for him in the spring (160 innings). He is at 157 now.
“One pitch kills me again,” Zimmermann said. “I thought I had pretty good stuff tonight. The fastball was right there. Slider was really good. One pitch that pretty much sunk me right there.”
Five times Washington led off an inning with a base hit. And five times it failed to score off Diamondbacks starter Ian Kennedy (16-4, 3.09 ERA), who gave up six hits and two walks in seven innings. Reliever David Hernandez retired the Nats in order in the eighth and closer J.J. Putz did the same in the ninth.
“I don’t know what it is. We just don’t score [for Zimmermann],” said outfielder Jayson Werth, who was removed from the game with what he called a mild hip flexor strain suffered on a fifth-inning single by Kennedy. “It’s too bad, too. He’s pitched really good this year, and I don’t think his record has really shown what he’s done.”
Arizona improved to 70-59 with the victory and maintained its hold on first place in the National League West by 1 ? games pending the San Francisco Giants’ late contest against the San Diego Padres. The Nats dropped to three games below .500 at 62-65 but are still 5-3 on the current 10-game homestand. Ian Desmond and Werth each had a two-hit game for Washington.
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