Nine seasons ago, Ryan Zimmerman hit a walk off home run to beat the Yankees. Tonight, he did it again, lining a walk off home run to give the Washington Nationals a victory against the New York Yankees, 8-6 in ten innings. For Zimmerman, who has become famous in DC as an incredible hitter in the clutch, the blast was his first walk-off since 2013.
The game ended on a long ball for the Nationals, but it also began in a similar fashion. After Gio Gonzalez set the Yankees down in order to begin the game, the Nats showed off their power bats. Following a Denard Span groundout to begin the bottom of the first, Ian Desmond took perhaps his finest swing of the season, rocketing a Nathan Eovaldi fastball into the right center field bleachers for a solo home run and a 1-0 Nats lead.
Two batters later, Bryce Harper got in on the act, lining a roundtripper of his own into the first row in right center. While the play was reviewed by the umpires, the initial call of home run on the field was upheld. The solo home run was Harper’s NL leading 15th of the year, in addition to his major league leading 38th RBI.
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The score would remain 2-0 until the top of the fourth inning, when the Yankees finally got to Gonzalez. Jacoby Ellsbury, putting together a first half that should earn him a spot on the AL All-Star team, walked to begin the inning and took second on a groundout from Brett Gardner. Chris Young would follow with a base hit to score Ellsbury and bring the Yankee deficit to 2-1. Mark Teixeira walked and Brian McCann grounded into a fielders choice before Chase Headley doubled to left field to score Young and tie the game at two.
The deadlock would not last long, as Stephen Drew would immediately hit a single to center to give the Yanks a 4-2 lead. Teixeira would drive in two more runs on a long homer in the top of the 5th to increase the Yankee lead to 6-2. Gonzalez would leave after five innings, allowing all six Yankee runs while only striking out one.
However, the Nationals would claw back into this game, scoring three in the bottom of the fifth on a Clint Robinson pinch- hit RBI double and RBI singles by Desmond and Yunel Escobar. In the sixth inning, Wilson Ramos would homer to deep left to once again even the score up, this time at six runs apiece. With that hit, Ramos extended his hitting streak to 19 games.
The game would remain deadlocked until the tenth inning, when the Yankees brought in closer Andrew Miller, who has been absolutely dominant in 2015. While Miller would strike out Desmond to open the frame, he walked Escobar to give the Nats a baserunner. Miller would strike out Harper to bring Zim to the plate. After a tough at-bat, Zim lined a Miller fastball off the right field foul pole and into the Nats bullpen to give then a walk off win. The homer was Zim’s fifth of the year and drove in RBI’s #30 and 31. With the victory, the Nationals (23-17) are now tied with the Mets for first place in the NL East.
Next Game: The Nationals (23-17) will look to sweep this two game series against the Yankees (22-18) tomorrow night. Jordan Zimmermann (3-2, 3.66) will look to stay hot, while the Yankees will send out righty Adam Warren (2-2, 4.50), who will aim for his third victory of the season. The game will begin at 7:05 PM ET and can be seen on MASN.