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Mets at Nationals Date published: 4/24/2008
BY RICH CAMPBELL WASHINGTON-- Ryan Zimmerman sprinted in from his position near third base as the ground ball in front of him spun violently in the infield grass. Sometimes it's not the hardest-hit balls that cause the most harm, it's the soft, tricky ones.And here, in the sixth inning of a tie game, was a ball cued off the bat of the New York Mets' Ryan Church. It rolled only about 50 feet before Zimmerman gloved it, but, oh, was this trouble. Because the ball was hit so slowly, and because Zimmerman had to charge in to field it, he made a hurried throw on the run. It sailed wide of first baseman Nick Johnson and into foul territory in shallow right field, allowing Carlos Beltran to score all the way from first base on the play. It was the first of two infield hits in the inning that, although seemingly innocuous off the bat, ultimately caused a 7-2 loss to get away from the Nationals. "It was the craziest spin I've ever seen on a ball," Zimmerman said, "but that doesn't excuse me for throwing it away after I caught it. That's a play I expect myself to make." Washington has now lost 16 of 19 and hasn't won consecutive games since starting 3-0. The Nationals' offensive woes continued, as the Nos. 3 through 6 hitters combined to go 0-for-15. New York's infield hits were "the kind of stuff we need to happen when we're hitting," Zimmerman lamented. Washington returned to Nationals Park to begin an 11-game homestand, its longest of the season, and was greeted by a picturesque spring evening and a crowd of 32,780 Hip-hop music blared in the home clubhouse an hour before first-pitch, and the Nationals (6-16) seemed relaxed. Perhaps they were buoyed by Tuesday's 6-0 shutout of the Atlanta Braves, arguably their best game of the season. They got a stellar starting pitching performance from John Lannan, some timely hitting in the ninth inning of a one-run game, and they did not commit an error.
Date published: 4/24/2008
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