Zimm & Zimm lead Nationals past Rockies 11-5
DENVER — Jordan Zimmermann pitched seven strong innings, Ryan Zimmerman and Tyler Moore both homered for the second straight game and the Washington Nationals beat the Colorado Rockies 11-5 on Wednesday night.
Moore finished with three hits, Ian Desmond also went deep and Bryce Harper had two hits for the Nationals, who had another big outburst at the plate. Washington scored nine runs once in its first 71 games before accomplishing the feat on consecutive nights against the Rockies.
Marco Scutaro had two hits and two RBIs for Colorado, which matched the Nationals with 14 hits but lost for the 16th time in 20 games.
The Nationals battered Rockies pitching again, one day after setting club marks for hits and extra-base hits since moving to Washington. They roughed up starter Edwar Cabrera, who was making his major league debut after getting called up from Double-A.
Washington wasted no time introducing the 24-year-old to the big leagues. Moore hit a two-run homer as part of a three-run second inning, and Zimmerman and Desmond hit solo shots in the third when the Nationals tacked on four more to make it 8-0.
It was enough for Zimmermann (4-6), who picked up his first win since May 22. The Nationals’ hard-luck pitcher — he entered the game with a 2.89 ERA — made the most of his run support, allowing eight hits while walking three and striking out one over seven innings. His only rough patch was giving up four hits in the third, but a double play limited the damage to one run.
He has pitched at least six innings in all 15 starts this season.
Cabrera (0-1) allowed seven runs, five earned, and seven hits. He gave up three home runs in 2 1-3 innings and left after walking Mark DeRosa, who scored on Jhonatan Solano’s two-run double off reliever Matt Reynolds.
Zimmerman had an RBI double in the fourth to make it 9-1, and an RBI double by Desmond and a sacrifice fly by DeRosa made it 11-1 in the seventh.
Colorado scored four runs off the Washington bullpen.
NOTES: The Rockies optioned RHP Zach Putnam to Triple-A to make room for Cabrera. ... Colorado co-pitching coach Bo Laughlin joined the team and was on the bench for the game. ... Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd said on a conference call that LHP Jorge De La Rosa, who has been out since last June after Tommy John surgery, will be shut down until September and might not pitch for the Rockies this year. ... The Nationals will send RHP Edwin Jackson (4-4) to the mound in the finale of the four-game series. Josh Outman (0-3) pitches for the Rockies.