Pirates 5, Nationals 3
It was a game the Nats could have won even after right-handed pitcher James McDonald made them look like little leaguers for the first five innings of Thursday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He struck out nine of the first 12 batters, had a perfect game through four innings and a no-hitter through five.
But Jordan Zimmermann struggled to keep the ball down and the Pirates took advantage with three home runs through six innings – two of them by noted Nats killer Andrew McCutchen, who threw in a ridiculous catch in center field to rob Adam LaRoche in the fifth inning. Show off.
“[Zimmermann] was rushing,” manager Davey Johnson said. “That’s the worst I’ve seen him with his command.”
Zimmermann only walked one batter, but he was leaving cookies over the plate for Pittsburgh batters. And yet he still pitched into the sixth innings, allowed four runs with six strikeouts. It wasn’t a disaster, by any means. Keep the ball in the park and Washington likely finds a way to win the game. Zimmermann was most disappointed in that walk to Casey McGehee with two down in the fourth inning. That allowed Rod Barajas to deposit a two-run homer over the wall in left field for a 3-0 Pirates lead.
“The breaking stuff was good, but when you can’t locate your fastball you’re going to be in trouble and it’s going to be a long game,” said Zimmermann, who felt better as the game went on. But by then it was too late.
Meanwhile, McDonald was dominant through the first half of the game. With a tight curveball and some deception in his delivery, Washington batters had trouble picking it up. It was a pretty simple repertoire with that breaking ball, a nice fastball and a change-up. But his aggressive approach was effective – even if the curve ball didn’t often stay in the strike zone, according to Johnson.
In 23 career games, McCutchen is 38-for-86 (.442) with six doubles, two triples and 10 home runs. He also has 21 RBI and 24 runs scored. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is the highest batting average for one player over the last four seasons against any National League team. With quick hands, McCutchen can get to almost any pitch. The Nats might want to “bust him in” next time, according to Zimmermann.
“Yeah, [McCutchen] does pretty good against us,” Nats third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said with a smile. “No, he’s a good player. We try and pitch him away and he hits it away. Then they bring one in and he almost hits a home run down the left-field line. Ad then the next at-bat – I’m hoping he was sitting first-pitch slider because if he’s not sitting on it that’s even more impressive. He’s one of those special players that can do everything.”
Rough night for shortstop Ian Desmond. He was 0-for-5 with four strikeouts, left two runners in scoring position in the seventh down 5-3 and left runners at first and second in the ninth with two down and the score the same. It was a fitting end and Desmond was left disappointed that he squandered quality chances. He was looking fastball in the ninth against former teammate Joel Hanrahan and missed the two left over the plate, fouling them off instead. Desmond said he can’t remember a time in his life that he fouled off 20 pitches in a game – an exaggeration, though he did foul off nine – but he just couldn’t get the barrel of the bat around fast enough.
“Desi, at times he’ll even admit it to me, he’s thinking too much. Really that’s just inexperience,” Johnson said. “Sometimes you just have to look for your pitch. They’ll come to you. That’s just basic inexperience. It takes time to know what kind of hitter you are, where you like the ball. Look for it there and when you get it, drop the hammer. We can’t get caught in between.”
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