HEADLINE: Ryan Zimmerman's Hit Streak Ends At 30 Games.
The Washington Nationals' Face of the Franchise©, Ryan Zimmerman, went 0 for 3 with 2 walks in today's late afternoon 6-3 DC win over the San Francisco Giants, grounding into a force with runners on first and third in his final AB in the ninth to end his hitting streak at 30 straight games.
The first of the 30 games with at least one hit came back on April 8th in a 6-4 loss to the Florida Marlins, with Zimmerman doubling in the sixth inning in Dolphin Stadium off of Andrew Miller. In 14 of the next 30 games, Zimmerman would get a hit in his first at bat, and there were, oddly, just two real close calls in the span of the 30-game streak, with the first, In just the fifth game, on April 13th in Philadelphia, where Zimmerman hit a ninth inning home run to keep it alive, and the second, on May 9th, in Arizona, in the 27th game, when Zimmerman's home run in the 8th was the difference in a 2-1 DC win.
Along the way, during THE STREAK, Zimmerman was 50 for 131, for a .382 AVG, with 11 doubles, 8 HR's and 26 RBI's, and on the '09 season, he's now hitting .357 with a .408 OBP in 33 games and 143 AB's.
As several people have pointed out by now, it was a wild pitch by Giants' starter Barry Zito in the seventh which may have ultimately ended the streak, since it came with runners on first and second, allowing both to advance into scoring position and more importantly opening first with the streakless Josh Willingham due up after Zimmerman. Willingham's line drive made it momentarily appear to be a wise move, but Elijah Dukes made sure that it stung, with a broken bat single to center that brought in the runner from second for what was the game's eventual winning run.
...and Zimmerman had one last shot in the ninth, when he came up with runners on first and third, and hit a sharp grounder into a drawn in infield for a force at second, while he hustled down the line to arrive safely at first. The STREAK IS OVER, LONG LIVE THE STREAK...
(ed. note - "Comments on the STREAK? I'd love to hear them in the Comments section?")
Shairon Martis is 5-0 on the 11-21-1 Washington Nationals.
7.0 IP, 109 pitches, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 walks allowed, 2 K's collected, a 4.10 ERA and a (5-0) record on the 11-21-1 Washington Nationals, it's Shairon Martis, who beat the San Francisco Giants today, even managing to double and score a run in his 7th start of the season.
Nick Johnson, Two-Spot's Hot.
Nick Johnson was 7 for 14 with 1 HR, 1 double and 7 RBI's in the Nationals' three-game visit to AT&T Park. On the season, Nick's now hitting .333 with 5 doubles, 3 HR's and 19 RBI's in 32 games and 123 AB's, in which he's taken 15 walks, K'd 22 times and posted a .411 OBP
League's Worst Offense No More...
The Washington Nationals have a .281 team AVG after 33 games, good for the third best team AVG in the National League, behind only the LA Dodgers and NY Mets. (And 5th best in baseball overall). The Nationals .361 team OBP is the NL's third best. The 42 HR's they've hit are the third-highest total in the National League. DC's 331 hits are good for second-best in the NL, behind only the NL West-leading Dodgers. They're 3rd in Team RBI's with 165, with only the Cards and again, the Dodgers collecting more, and they're tied for third in walks with 3 other teams who have 141. So I guess the question is...How do you keep this offense together long enough for the pitching to catch up?
The hard-hitting Washington Nationals are headed back to DC from the West Coast and on Friday they'll meet the Phillies at home in Nationals Park, and Federal Baseball.com will be there...Will You?
Did You Miss Today's Game? We didn't. See The Game Through The Eyes of the DC Faithful in the Nationals/Giants GameThread.
Nationals win, 6-3 final.
Nationals now 11-21-1.