Washington Nationals: Top 10 moments from the 2018 season
By Blake Finney
6 – Mr. Walkoff does his thing against the Phillies
Another season in the books, another Ryan Zimmerman walk-off home run for the Washington Nationals. It’s one of our favorite yearly traditions, and this time, he chose the Philadelphia Phillies as his victim.
Just as they did earlier in the season, and earlier in our list, the Phillies jumped out to an early lead and the Nats were rallying late on. The hosts trailed 7-5 heading into the eighth, and an Andrew Stevenson sac fly brought them within one before the fateful ninth.
Bryce Harper then Anthony Rendon went down pretty quickly against Seranthony Dominguez to start the ninth. But the Nats were able to rally off him again, as Juan Soto doubled before Zimmerman jacked one just over the fence.
It wasn’t without a little bit of drama as initially, the umpires ruled the ball had come off the wall and was only a game-tying double. But after a crew chief review, they rightly overturned the call and Zimmerman was allowed to trot on home, strategically avoiding Soto on the way.
The home run was Zimmerman’s 11th career walk-off dinger, that leaves him only two off the all-time lead. With at least a few more years left in the tank, he definitely has a chance to chase down that mark with the Nationals.
2019 is the last year on Zimmerman’s contract, and while he does have an option for 2020, the Nats would likely buy that out as things stand. He recently hinted that he really wants to stay and retire as a Nat, so a contract extension shouldn’t be ruled out at some point.