Washington Nationals Rapid Reaction: Nats Late Inning Collapse Crushes Playoff Hopes
By Ricky Keeler
Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Zimmermannn Pitched Well, But Could Not Get Past 6th Inning
On a night where the Nats bullpen failures were the story of the night, it’s easy to forget about the good outing that Jordan Zimmermann had. The Nats needed a strong outing from Zimmermann, especially when they were going up against a pitcher of Harvey’s caliber. The Nats’ right-hander went 5.2 innings, gave up one run on three hits, struck out six, and walked one on 100 pitches (64 strikes) in a no-decision.
The one thing that Zimmermann struggled with was his pitch count, which was relatively high throughout the game. He threw at least 14 pitches in each inning and the Mets did a good job of making him work for every out. The only two mistakes he made in the game was the David Wright solo home run to left in the second and Curtis Granderson’s RBI triple to center field in the sixth.
According to Brooks Baseball, 60 of Zimmermann’s 100 pitches were fastballs, but only 27 of those fastballs were swung at. In fact, Zimmermann’s best pitch was his slider. Out of the 22 sliders he threw, 18 went for strikes.
With a man on second and two outs in the sixth, Matt Williams made the right decision to bring in the left-hander, Matt Thornton, to face Daniel Murphy. Murphy came into last night’s game hitting .339 against Zimmermann in his career. Murphy lined out to center to end the inning. While Zimmermann continues to pitch well, his bullpen was not able to get him a fifth straight win.
Next: Nats Offense Finally Figures Out Harvey