Jordan Zimmermann strikes out nine as Washington Nationals rout Chicago Cubs 9-2 - MLB Update
Starter Jordan Zimmermann strikes-out nine as he leads the Washington Nationals to a 9-2 victory against the Chicago Cubs in the last match of the four game series at Nationals Park, Washington, D.C. on September 6, 2012.
Cubs’ initial lead was belittled by the consistency with which Nationals scored runs in the innings.
With one run lead at the top of the second, Cubs were looking to keep the Nationals quiet and substantiate their lead. Far from this, they were superseded in the bottom of the same inning. Just to make matters worse for them, Washington added three more
runs in the fourth.
By the time the Nationals’ lead reached an almost unassailable level, their pitchers did not have much trouble in restricting batters. By using the pressure on them at this moment, they kept throwing scoreless innings.
Zimmermann was the main architect of the Cubs’ demise. As he struck-out batters, he gave the Cubs little time to adjust to his throws and score runs out of them.
Offensively third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and the catcher Kurt Suzuki put up a stand out performance on Thursday. Zimmerman was 2-for-4 while adding three RBIs whereas Suzuki struck three hits in five at-bats.
First baseman Adam LaRoche and Suzuki each smacked a home-run in the match.
The homer that Suzuki struck was decisive as the lead that it provided to the team was not blown afterwards.
Nationals' manager Davey Johnson criticises Jamie Quirk, the Cubs’ bench coach, for exploding his emotions at their staff and speaking out at them. Johnson said he was frustrated and was taking it out on them but he resolved that the Nationals will not be
budged by this and will keep competing as a highly quality side.
"It was the bench coach's frustration in us handing it to him for a couple days," Johnson said. "If they want to quit competing and forfeit, then fine. But we're going to keep competing."
The Nationals at the moment are headed to put up splendours in the play-offs. Their pitchers are throwing terrific spells on the mound. Similarly their offence is scoring a great number of runs in every game.
They will be looking to keep repeating such performances throughout the season.
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