May 24, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann (27) throws during the second inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Zimmermann battled through a stiff neck that limited his fastball, he allowed two runs and six hits, issued no walks, and struck out one over seven innings.

Dominic Brown got to Zimmermann in the second when his single to right scored Ryan Howard.  An Erik Kratz sacrifice fly in the fifth would be the last time the Phillies would scored Friday night.

A four run fifth inning for the Nationals put the game out of reach.  Adam LaRoche started the scoring with a RBI triple to center than plated Ryan Zimmerman.  Later in the inning, Kurt Suzuki‘s single scored LaRoche and Stephen Lombardozzi’s doubled to deep right center drove in Suzuki and Tyler Moore.

Tyler Clippard and Rafeal Soriano pitched perfect eighth and ninth innings to cap off the Nationals win over their division rivals.

Dan Haren and Johnathan Pettibone will take the mound for the Nationals and Phillies tomorrow in the second game of the series.

Oct 8, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher Christian Garcia (56) stands on the mound after talking with pitching coach Steve McCatty (43) during the fifth inning of the 2012 NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 12-4. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

During Spring Training, the team attempted to stretch him out to be a starter, but has reneged on this plan after his injury scare.Garcia has a checkered injury history to say the least, having had two Tommy John surgeries during his time with the Yankees as a starter.

He excelled with the Nats as a reliever last year, with a 2.13 ERA in 12.2 innings, and earned a surprise spot on the playoff roster. He will start in AA, but if he continues to pitch as he has, it would not be a surprise to see him in the majors soon.

While the Nationals’ offense may be struggling mightily, they don’t need much of it when the starters pitch like Gio Gonzalez did today. He locked the Giants down into the eighth inning, but Madison Bumgarner did the same to the Nationals’ much less potent offense. Bryce Harper pumped some life into the feeble, frail Nationals’ offense with a home run and an extra-inning double that would eventually see him score as the game-winning run. However, as happy as the team must be to end their tough road trip with a win, they need to realize that scoring two runs a game will not win a team many games. Either a change needs to be made, or some players need to do some serious slump-breaking. It looks like Ian Desmond and Harper are out of theirs, and LaRoche and Ryan Zimmerman are hot, so perhaps the Nationals will score a little more soon. Don’t hold your breath though.

Most Important Nationals Hit: Ian Desmond’s RBI single (+33.2%)

May 21, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; Washington Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond (20) hits a single during the fourth inning of the game against the San Francisco Giants at AT

Perhaps a sign of hope for the Nationals’ offense is the timely hitting they finally got in the top of the tenth today. Harper doubled and Zimmerman was intentionally walked to get Desmond to face the lefty Jeremy Affeldt. Desmond was 0-4 in the game’s first nine innings, but came through when it mattered. His single put the Nats up by one, and would prove to be the game’s winning run after Rafael Soriano locked down the tenth inning for his 13th save.

Most Important Nationals Pitch: Buster Posey‘s game-tying single (-29.2%)

After Gonzalez left the game, Drew Storen entered with one out and a runner on first in the eighth, leading by one. Wasting no time, Storen walked a batter and allowed Posey’s single to tie the game. While Gonzalez was charged with the earned run, Storen is accountable for the WPA hit because he allowed the game-tying hit, even though the baserunner was not his. Fortunately, Storen ensured that he allowed no runs by retiring the next two batters he faced to end the inning.

Champ of the Game: Gio (+41.0%) was stellar, allowing one run on four hits and two walks in 7.1 innings while striking out five. Curiously, Bumgarner had the exact same line, except that he recorded one fewer out. However, WPA held him accountable for his earned run, while Gio was let off the hook, so the Giants’ champ was Posey (+23.5%), who was 1-4 with his clutch single.

Chump of the Game: Storen (-22.7%) didn’t allow a run on the scoresheet, but was held responsible for Gio’s baserunner and the ensuing run. Affeldt (-33.4%) suffered for having allowed the game-winning run.