Washington Nationals beat St. Louis Cardinals 8-4 in Spring Training - MLB Update
Ryan Zimmerman lifts Washington Nationals in their 8-4 victory against St. Louis Cardinals on March 12, 2012 during their Spring Training Grapefruit League at Space Coast Stadium in Melbourne, Florida.
Advancing from his great performance seen in three Spring Training games he played so far where he had been 6-for-9 while contributing five RBIs, two home-runs and scoring three doubles, Zimmerman accumulated two runs in three at-bats along with one RBI
today. He along with other Nationals who so far have been terrific in training can seriously form a competitive offensive front for their opponents.
"Obviously, I'm happy with the first two at-bats, but the third at-bat was probably the best at-bat for me to get ready (for the season) today," Zimmerman said. "I got to see some stuff I hadn't seen."
Ian Desmond while opening for Nationals was unable to impress manager Davey Johnson, who had been spending a great deal of time off the field to help him get back to his normal game. Desmond hit only one out of three at-bats he played and brought one RBI.
Johnson is disappointed by the way switch-hitter Danny Espinosa wasted three at-bats and his worry must have been compounded by the fact that he is one of those players not only he, but other team-mates also spent time on discussing his technique in an attempt
to help him work out his flaws.
Nationals’ starter Jordan Zimmermann almost got the side on losing end as he alone conceded four runs, only that Cardinals were able to collect throughout the game. Barring him, upcoming pitchers did a great job as none of them gave up any run.
Only reason Nationals remained ahead in the game was all-round performance seen from their hitters. Most of the batters came and contributed one way or the other and built it up brick-by-brick unlike the Cardinals who saw only three of their players making
runs.
Cardinals’ opener Adron Chambers went three at-bats without scoring any run while hitting only once. Fate of their starting pitcher was not any different as Shelby Miller, while spending over two innings on mound, gave up three earned runs, including two
home-runs while allowing one walk.
The win has strengthened the Nationals position on the table and if they can manage to replicate the same performance regularly during the season, they can pose a serious threat to the strongest of the top tier teams in the League.
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