Zimmermans lead Nationals past Dodgers

Washington, DC, United States (4E Sports) – Jordan Zimmerman allowed six hits and one run over six innings and third baseman Ryan Zimmerman broke the deadlock with a grounder in the fifth inning as the Washington Nationals edged the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1, in the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader at Nationals Park.

The Nationals snapped their three-game losing skid and kept their hold of the top spot of the NL East with a 90-57 record by blanking the Dodgers in the final six innings.

Zimmerman improved his win-loss slate to 11-8 while Ryan Mattheus, Sean Burnett and Drew Stolen preserved the Nationals lead. Tyler Clippard also recorded his 32nd save of the season.

Catcher Kurt Suziki opened things up with a run-producing sacrifice fly off Dodgers hurler Aaron Harang, who dropped to 9-10 in the season.

Hanley Ramirez leveled the score at 1-1 with an RBI single in the third. However, Zimmerman and Tyler Moore drove in a run each in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, to provide the Nats with all the offense they would need.

With the loss, the Dodgers (76-72) dropped nine games behind the pace-setting San Francisco Giants (85-63) in the NL West race.

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