Nats 6, Reds 4
Sorry, Ryan Zimmerman. Your manager sold you out. Apparently, before coming to bat in the third inning of Tuesday’s win over Cincinnati, Zimmerman told anyone who would listen in the dugout that he was about to take Reds starting pitcher Mike Leake deep. Zimmerman’s got a lot more edge than his public persona suggests so it wasn’t completely out of character. Didn’t hurt that he’d been getting a steady diet of fastball on the inner half of the plate. So he simply strode to the plate and turned on one, crushing into just inside the left-field foul pole and into the last row seats. It was a bomb.
“Who said that?” Zimmerman deadpanned when asked if it was true he’d just called his own shot. Had a teammate outed him? “Davey,” a reporter said. Busted. Zimmerman just laughed. “If Davey said I did then I might have.”
Johnson jokingly asked if Zimmerman “got all of it” and with tongue firmly in cheek Zimmerman said he got jammed. Actually, that might have been partially true. Check out the details from our game story. Starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang had his longest outing since June 10, 2008 with 6 1/3 innings and four runs allowed. Ian Desmond had a two-run single and Zimmerman and first baseman Michael Morse both homered. Morse also doubled.
That led to some news after the game as Johnson conceded that Morse would get some playing time in left field once the rosters expand on Sept. 1. That will let him prepare for next season when Adam LaRoche (shoulder surgery) will likely be back at full strength and take over first base again. Until Bryce Harper is ready for full-time major league duty the Nats need a bat in left and Morse has played both corner outfield spots in his career. Chris Marrero, the team’s first-round pick in 2006, has had a nice season at Triple-A Syracuse and will get some starts at first base in September.
Michael Morse batted 2-for-4 with an RBI double and his 21st homer. He is now batting .323 with a .938 OPS, which is closing in on the highest mark in team history if he can sustain it over the last six weeks.
“He’s been really consistent all year. Ever since I’ve been here, he hasn’t had really a bad day,” Johnson said. “He missed one day [after being hit on the left elbow last Thursday], came back and hit ropes the next day. I don’t know where we’d be without him.”
Follow me on Twitter @bmcnally14
