Washington Nationals Rapid Reaction: Nats Offense Picks Up Jordan Zimmermann In Win Over Orioles
Jul 11, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Washington Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa (8) hits a three run home run during the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Washington won 7-4. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
For the Washington Nationals’ offense, July has not been the best month for them in terms of hitting the long ball. Coming into last night’s game, the Nationals had five home runs in the first eight games of the month. Last night, the Nats got a pair of key home runs from Bryce Harper (his 26th of the season and Danny Espinosa’s three-run homer (his 10th of the season) in the sixth inning to help lead the team to a 7-4 win over the Orioles, snapping the Nats’ three game losing streak.
With the offense missing some key regulars, it’s tough to expect the bats to have great nights on a consistent basis. Last night, they scored more than five runs in a game for the second time this month. Washington’s offense was able to get some pitches to hit up in the zone against O’s starter Miguel Gonzalez and they took advantage of it.
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Last night’s outing wasn’t the best one for Jordan Zimmermann, but the offense was able to bail him out. Zimmermann went five innings, gave up four runs on nine hits, struck out four, did not walk a batter, and gave up home runs to Caleb Joseph and Steve Pearce. However, he was able to get his third straight victory.
After Zimmermann, the Nats’ bullpen shut out the Orioles for the final four innings, but it wasn’t without any tense moments. Blake Treinen and closer Drew Storen got in jams of their own, but the O’s were not able to get the clutch hits in the big spot. Baltimore was 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position while the Nats were 4-for-7 in those situations.
Before Max Scherzer takes the mound (1:35 PM ET, MASN2/WUSA9) for the final game of the first half of the season, here are my takeaways from yesterday’s 7-4 win.
Next: Nats Stay Aggressive On Offense
Jul 11, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Washington Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa (8) celebrates with designated hitter Clint Robinson (25) and catcher Wilson Ramos (40) after his three run home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the sixth inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Washington won 7-4. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Nats Aggressive Approach Pays Off On Offense
Right out of the gate, the Nats had plenty of chances to score runs against Orioles’ starter, Miguel Gonzalez. It began in the first inning when Clint Robinson hit a ball to right field that looked like it would score Yunel Escobar from second. However, the Orioles made a great relay throw to get him at the plate because Escobar isn’t running as fast due to his hamstring injury.
One inning later, Washington found a way to get on the board, but they did it with small ball. Wilson Ramos led off with a walk, Danny Espinosa reached base on a bunt single, and Tyler Moore singled to left. The Nats had a chance to have a huge inning, but only managed one run. That run would end up scoring on a double play by Ian Desmond.
Once Gonzalez got that double play, he was able to retire the next ten Nationals hitters in a row before going up against Harper in the sixth inning. On the second pitch, Harper took a 90 mile per hour fastball and crushed it on a line drive over the right center field wall to cut the O’s lead to 4-3.
Later in the inning, Robinson and Ramos would reach base on back-to-back singles. With two on and no out, manager Matt Williams would make an interesting call with Espinosa up. Instead of bunting and giving up an out, Williams decided to take a chance as the ball was carrying out of Camden Yards. Espinosa took a changeup from Gonzalez and hit it over the right field wall for a three-run homer to give the Nats the lead.
The Nationals were able to win this game with a combination of timely hitting and the long ball. Every hitter in the starting lineup reached base with eight of them recording a hit (Desmond went 0-for-3 with a walk).
Plus, five of the Nats’ nine RBI’s came from Michael Taylor and Espinosa. Taylor had RBI singles in the second and ninth innings. Give the Nats credit for having a good gameplan against Gonzalez and taking advantage of a pitcher that pitches to contact and doesn’t strike many hitters out.
Next: Zimmermann Struggles, But Gets The Win
Jul 11, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann (27) pitches during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Rough Outing For Zimmermann, But A Win Nonetheless
Before last night’s start, Jordan Zimmermann had been solid in his last four outings. Over a stretch of 29.2 innings, the right-hander had given up four earned runs. Last night, he gave up four runs on nine hits over five innings. He was pitching one day after going on the paternity list to be with his wife during the birth of their daughter.
One of the things the Orioles did well on offense against Zimmermann was work his pitch count up in the early stages. Out of the 95 pitches he threw in the game, 44 of them came in the first two innings. He had three 20+ pitch innings during the game.
While he only gave up seven flyball outs, Baltimore was able to take advantage of pitches that Zimmermann left up in the zone. In the bottom of the third inning, Caleb Joseph got ahead 2-1 on the count and hit a fastball from Zimmermann over the wall in center for a two run homer.
Two innings later, Zimmermann made a mistake on a 1-2 curveball to Steve Pearce and the right fielder hit it over the wall in left to give Baltimore a 4-2 lead. Pearce was in the lineup because Chris Davis was scratched due to a stomach flu.
In fact, one of the pitches the Orioles had great success hitting against Zimmermann was his fastball. According to Brooks Baseball, six of the 12 fastballs thrown by Zimmermann that were put in play by the O’s did not result in an out.
That being said, it was nice to see the Nats offense pick up Zimmermann on a night where he didn’t have his best stuff. However, it is understandable when you realize that he was coming back from paternity leave. Plus, he still has walked one batter or less in his last six starts.
Next: Bullpen Shuts Down O's Offense
Jul 11, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher Drew Storen (22) pitches during ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Washington won 7-4. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Nats Bullpen Rebounds After Bad Friday Night
With Zimmermann only lasting five innings, it was up to the Nats bullpen to hold the team’s 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth. Blake Treinen would be the first pitcher to come into the game. While Treinen did not give up a run over 1.2 innings, he did struggle with his control.
In the sixth inning, he walked J.J. Hardy with one out, but got out of it by getting Ryan Flaherty to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. However, during the next inning, his command issues continued. Treinen walked the first two batters, but Chris Parmelee bunted the first pitch and Wilson Ramos got the lead runner at third for a big first out.
After Treinen battled to get Adam Jones to ground out to first after falling behind 3-1 in the count, Williams went to the bullpen and brought in left-hander Felipe Rivero, so Jimmy Paredes would hit from the right side. Paredes hits .250 as a right-handed hitter and .305 as a left-handed hitter. The move worked as Rivero got ahead 0-2 and Paredes would fly out to center to end the inning and leave two runners on base.
Casey Janssen would pitch the eighth inning for the second straight night. This time, he had no issues as he struck out two batters in a 1-2-3 inning. It is interesting to see how Williams has not used David Carpenter the last two nights in the eighth inning. Carpenter just came back from paternity leave on Wednesday, but has yet to appear in a game since.
Drew Storen came in to pitch the ninth and ran into a little bit of trouble. With one out, Matt Wieters had a pinch hit single and Manny Machado walked to bring the tying run to the plate. After Parmelee flew out to right, it was up to Jones.
During the at-bat, Jones hit an 0-1 slider foul down the right field line, but it just missed being fair. If that ball landed fair, Baltimore would have cut the Nats lead to one. However, Storen used his slider to get Jones to pop out to second to end the game and record his 26th save of the season. All in all, after the Nats bullpen could not hold a 2-1 lead on Friday, they were able to keep the O’s off the board for the final four innings last night to secure the win.