Jordan Zimmermann (with help from Ryan Mattheus, Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen) pitched Washington to a 2-0 shutout win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday — a victory that ensured that the Anacostia Nine will finish the first half of the 2011 campaign at .500. The Nationals’ win came on a broken bat single by Roger Bernadina that scored Ian Desmond. Rick Ankiel added a solo home run for the second score.

Zimmermann’s outing ended after a single out in the 7th inning — much to the puzzlement of fans — after breezing through the Colorado line-up. Zimmermann was never in any trouble in the game, but Nats’ skipper Davey Johnson wanted to go his bullpen to seal the victory. “I’m sure everybody in the stands thought I gave him a quick hook,” Johnson said. “And it probably was.”

Zimmermann has emerged as Washington’s staff ace and his win was his sixth of the season. “When you’re in a close game, you never really are too sure what’s going to happen, but Jordan was phenomenal,” Washington reliever Tyler Clippard said. “He’s kind of proven to everyone in the league what kind of pitcher he is, and what kind of pitcher we all knew he could be.” Zimmermann’s record now stands at 6-7, but his ERA is a sparkling 2.66.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: The regular announcing crew of Orel Hershiser and Bobby Valentine for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball laced into the New York Mets last night during the Mets-Giants telecast from San Francisco. The criticisms were breathtaking: Valentine went after the coaching staff on placement of outfielders, Hershiser talked about Pelfrey’s “questionable” delivery (“he has no foundation”), and both went after Daniel Murphy’s indifferent defense at third base: “he’s very tentative over there” . . .

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Jordan Zimmermann pitched into the sixth inning, the Nats rapped out nine hits, and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez got two badly needed RBIs for his first hit of the season as the Washington Nationals surged past the New York Mets, 6-2, on Friday. It now seems all but certain that the young, but steady, Zimmermann is a commanding influence in the Nats’ starting rotation — which has been outstanding in the 2011 campaign’s early going. Zimmermann added to his own growing resume with an unexpected, but badly needed, two run RBI single of his own in the second inning. The victory brought the Nationals to 3-4 in the young season, with the team adding to their own legendary mastery of the Mets. The Nats are now 6-3 in their last nine games against the Metropolitans.

Once again the bullpen was superb, providing the Nationals with 3.2 innings of one hit baseball, while striking out three and walking two. The only unsteady presence was Chad Gaudin, who is having problems mastering the strike zone. The key contributor in the pen once again was Tyler Clippard, who is emerging as one of baseball’s most effective relievers. Clippard came on in relief of Gaudin, with runners on second and third and one out — and retired the side. “In those situations, you have to set the tone and throw strikes. I was able to do that,” Clippard said. “The last few outings, I’m trying to build some confidence. We have been playing good ball. We tried to change the momentum today and get it on our side. I made some good pitches to where we were able to do that.”

Trouble For The Kings of Queens: You can see why Mets fans are worried. Friday’s win came at the expense of Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, one of the mainstays of the shaky Mets rotation. But Dickey has problems of his own, including a nagging nail problem that hampers his control. New manager Terry Collins lifted Dickey for this reason, despite the pitcher’s claim that he could go another inning. “I tried to hang in there as long as I could,” Dickey said. Other post-game comments centered on Carlos Beltran, who started in right field at Citi Field for the first time in his career. Beltran told the press that he felt “comfortable” in right and that he is seeing the ball well at the plate. It’s good that Beltran is seeing the ball well, but that’s not the issue — the issue is whether he can run. And the answer is that he can’t: Beltran’s knees are wobbly, which is clear every time he takes the field.

This isn’t the only worry for Mets fans. The continuing financial problems of the Wilpons mean that the Mets will not be able to afford the kind of acquisitions the team desperately needs, the starting rotation is stocked with question marks, Ike Davis is not turning into the kind of superstar Mets fans had hoped for, the farm system is thin-thin-thin, the team is crippled by hefty salaries for so-so players (like Francisco Rodriguez, who was booed by the fans during team introductions on Friday), the team’s ace (Johan Santana) may not pitch at all this season, no one knows when Jason Bay will return (or whether he’ll return as the Jason Bay of old), and “ace” Mike Pelfrey might be imploding.

There is good news: Jose Reyes is healthy, David Wright remains an elite third baseman and the bullpen is young and strong. And new manager Terry Collins (not known for his patience) might be just the kind of go-get-em personality the team needs. Still, Met fans are likely to be disappointed by the team in the coming campaign and it may be past time (as one scout told Sports Illustrated) for the franchise to “blow it up and start over.”

This is the kind of game the Nationals have been looking forward to playing since their embarrassing three game implosion in Baltimore just last week: in the bottom of the ninth inning, third sacker Ryan Zimmerman hit a walk off sacrifice fly to the Jeff Francoeur in right field to give the Nationals a badly needed 2-1 victory against the visiting New York Mets at Nationals Park. The Zimmerman walk off capped a closely played pitchers’ duel, in which the savvy Livan Hernandez matched Mets ace Johan Santana pitch for pitch. The Nats played an errorless game. “Every win is huge. You feel better about yourself,” Washington’s manager, Jim Riggleman said after the victory. “Our ballclub has played hard. As bad as our record has been lately, we have actually cleaned it up a little bit the last couple of days. We played really good baseball today against a ballclub that also played very well and pitched very well. Our guys pitched great, played good defense and got a couple timely hits. That was just an outstanding baseball game in which we came up on top.”

Apples To The Core: NL East Chatter is back in business for 2010 — with the traditional “Chatter Up” section once again featuring questions and answers from NL East partisans. On June 30, Mets and Marlins bloggers exchanged Q & A’s on the recent Mets-Marlins match-up and today CFG will go head-to-head with Mets blogger Eric, who posts for the endlessly entertaining Real Dirty Mets Blog. We asked whether, as we had written just a few short days ago, the key to the Mets’ success is Jose Reyes. Without Reyes, we said, the Mets would probably be sunk. Eric is not so sure: “Reyes is for sure an important piece in the Mets puzzle,” Eric responded. “I am not sure there is one player that could completely sink the Mets chances just like there is not one player that the Mets could bring in and lock up a World Series”

We also asked about the team’s biggest disappointment (answer: Johan Santana and his lack of run support) and about the resurgence of Mike Pelfrey. “I get to pat myself on the back for Pelfrey,” Eric wrote. “I really thought last year was just that dreaded slump that happens to many young pitchers. This year he looks like the Pelfrey I expected him to be.  Confident and yippless. Could be that his new pitch has given him that confidence.” Not surprising, Eric acknowledged that the Mets were still in need of some major pieces: “SP, SP,SP a BP piece or two. I see no need for more offense. The bench when/if Beltran returns will be much better as well.” Eric is outspoken in his defense of David Wright (as are Mets fans the world over, we would bet) and our poke on his poor season last year: “Poor Wright, the guy has been one of the most solid hitters in baseball for his first seven years. He has one slightly off year and everyone is ready to send him out to pasture. The guy is just a good hitter. Period.” The full exchange, including what CFG about the Nats, will be posted later today on NL East Chatter.

To honor the Nats 2-1 wacking of the Mets last night, we reproduce Joe Petruccio’s take on the game — a reflection of what must have been Johan Santana’s reaction to the 2-1 squeaker. Eric’s comment about Johan’s lack of run support seems particularly appropriate.

The Nats continued to struggle on the road, suffering a 4-1 road loss in Atlanta on Wednesday. The defeat was yet further evidence that the Nationals downward spiral is for real — that the early season hope that the Rizzo and Riggleman’s Nine could contend in the NL East, or at least play .500 ball, has now faded. The deep funk seems puzzling to Nats players, who regularly cite the team’s talent as an indication that things will improve. “We need something,” first baseman Adam Dunn said in the wake of yesterday’s loss at Turner Field. “We’re not playing up to our capabilities, and I don’t know why that is. It’s not for a lack of effort, a lack of talent, any of that. I don’t know.”

For the most part, as Dunn seems to imply, the Nats have been victimized by themselves — with a lack of steady pitching (excepting for those who pitch into those who pitch into the 7th, as Craig Stammen did on Tuesday), good hitting (the entire team, with the exception of Dunn, is slumping), poor fielding (the Nats are last in defense), and indifferent and confounding base running — as evidenced by Nyjer Morgan’s continuing inability to read the pick off moves of opposing pitchers. What to do? What to do? What to do? It’s hard to imagine the Mike Rizzo would thoughtlessly scramble to stop the bleeding, but the escalation in trade talk is a signal, and a fairly significant one, that the front office is beginning to search for a solution outside of Syracuse or Harrisburg.

The House That Jose Built: The Mets have provided New York with a history of spotty but triumphant success that has, admittedly, provided some memorable moments — the 1969 “Miracle Mets” and the 1986 “we beat Boston” Mets.  Even so, the Mets are New York’s second team, bearing no resemblance to the New York Siths, who regularly lug home the World Series trophy. This anguish was on full display in ’08 and ’09, as the Mets collapsed and then underperformed. It was no wonder that baseball’s gurus had doubts that the 2010 version of the Mets would follow suit: the front office seemed in chaos, with GM Omar Minaya pleading the case that signing Jason Bay (and only Jason Bay) was the right decision. Now, as it turns out, Minaya knew something we didn’t — that the Mets had enough pieces in place to contend in the NL East, and perhaps well into the post season.

Here are the pieces: a revived Mike Pelfrey (10-1, 2.93 ERA), slap-and-power first baseman Ike Davis (.261, 9 HR), a surprisingly uninjured Angel Pagan (steady defense, good speed, .304 BA) some guy named R.A. Dickey (6-1, 1.29 WHIP), a solid enough bullpen and (if that is still not enough) a good-enuf Jason Bay and a reanimated hit-homers-the-other- way, David Wright. All of this makes up for the team’s other struggles: fans are worried that Johan Santana will remain inconsistent and that the Mets will not be able to fight their way through holes on the left side, behind the plate and on the mound in the middle innings. But the real key to the Amazin’s amazing early season of success is Jose Reyes. The evidence that Reyes is the key to the team is non-statistical and purely intuitive: without him the Lords of Flatbush look like the peasants of Queens.

For more than a year, Reyes has battled an assortment of injuries, the most recently a high profile thyroid problem that apparently barred him from so much as working out. Before that it was a “cranky hamstring” that simply wouldn’t heel, leading to worries that the fleet-footed shortstop might be permanently slowed. But Reyes has come back this year with his patented passion for the game and eternally smiling countenance. He seems to have returned to the form that once made him the most talked about man in baseball, and a leading candidate for best shortstop in New York. He threatens to do what no other Mets player can do: turn Mets haters into proto fans, those who watch the Metropolitans just to see him play. In spite of his very good (but not great) stats, Reyes — not Bay, not Dickey, not Santana — is the symbol of these Mets. He went 0-7 during the mid-April marathon against the Cardinals: he notched the game winning RBI and scored a run and was ecstatic after the game. “I’m ready for tomorrow,” he said. The Nationals will take on the Metropolitans starting tonight at Nationals Park.

Stan Kasten was pretty adamant in talking about Stephen Strasburg on Sunday, telling Nats beat report Bill Ladson that, as good as Stephen Strasburg is now, he’ll get even better. That’s good news for Nats fans, because the team itself seems to be getting worse. On Sunday, the Nationals lost their fourth in a row and their third in a row to the league worst Baltimore Orioles, 4-3. It was the third consecutive game in which the Nationals dropped a contest in which they led, and should have won. The team is now ten games under .500 — and sinking fast. But for skipper Jim Riggleman, at least, the glass is (as he is fond of repeating, and repeating) half full: “I like the fact that we scored runs early,” Riggleman said. “We had a chance to win the ballgame, and we didn’t get blown out. It’s a small consolation. We had runners out there to be driven in. We got some of them in. We are going to have to get more in. We have to get [good] pitching performances. There are a lot of good things to draw from.” We love Jim, really we do. But what glass is he talking about? Because the one that is half empty is filled with errors.

Kasten’s comments were fairly predictable, while signaling that the Nats will continue the Kasten-Rizzo philosophy of focusing on pitching — and building from within: “His [Strasburg's] role as a symbol is very important,” Kasten told Ladson. “When we came in four years ago, we talked about wanting to build through scouting/development with an emphasis on pitching. Continuing with the fulfillment of that commitment, I think it’s very important that fans could see that we are close to turning the corner. We are close to having a really terrific, good, stable young rotation as some of our guys come up from the Minor Leagues and come back from rehab. But clearly the symbol of that movement is Stephen.”

Kasten could not have been more explicit; rather than depending on a big free agent signing, or making a blockbuster trade, the Nats will sink or swim with their young arms, and likely await the arrival (and return) of Jordan Zimmermann, Ross Detwiler, Jason Marquis and Chien-Ming Wang. Nats fans would be pleased if any of those four (but particularly Marquis and Wang) returned to form — filling in a now shaky rotation that is having trouble pitching into the seventh inning. Sadly, as the Nats triumverate of Kasten, Rizzo and Riggleman would undoubtedly agree, if Desmond, Kennedy, Guzman and Gonzalez could field as well as Strasburg pitches, the Nats would have emerged from Baltimore as winners, instead of also-rans.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: The CFG Board of Directors (here they are, remember?) has directed our editorial staff to conduct a reset of some earlier predictions. We have refused. While the “Amazins” are contending for the division title, we stand by our claim: the Nats will finish ahead of the Apples in the NL Least. There’s a long way to go. And this we say — while everyone is focusing on “The Rise of Ike Davis” and the expertise of some guy named Pelfrey (oh, and R.A. Dickey, whoever that is), we know the truth. The truth is that the key to the New York Metropolitans is Jose Reyes. Always has been, always will be. Without him, they’re lost . . .

But in at least another instance we are inclined to offer a “redo” on our too outspoken view that the Pale Hose, which was sinking like a rock when we (arrogantly, and filled with confidence) wrote that the South Siders would be sellers and would eventually be forced to shop Jake Peavy. The day after we wrote that, the White Sox launched a breathtaking winning streak, with Peavy in the lead. They have now recouped their season and their team and the confidence of their manager. Their win streak ended at 11 yesterday, in a loss to the North Side Drama Queens. Our bet now is that, barring the resurrection of Joe DiMaggio (and his agreement on a trade to the City of Big Shoulders), Jumpin’ Jake ain’t goin anywhere . . .

And we note with interest that in spite of Stanley’s talk of focusing on development and arms in the minors, the Nats are scouting D-Backs ace Dan Haren. Here’s our question: what’s to scout? Long into the night (and we’re deadly serious), we dream of that delivery, the same delivery every single time, like the mechanism of a finely tuned watch: head down, right leg up (then, the hesitation), the head snaps to the plate, the glove is thrown out (into the face of the batter) and the arm coming perfectly over the top. It’s a thing of beauty. I swear. It’s enough to send you back to church. Go get ‘em Stan, go get ‘em Mike . . .

The New York Mets won a wild one in St. Louis — a twenty inning marathon that lasted seven hours. The final line is memorable: both teams used 46 players and 19 pitchers, racking up the seventh longest game in Major League history. The Mets hold the record for playing in the longest game, a 24 inning 1-0 loss to the Astros on April 15, 1968. But the Mets were on the winning end of this one. Together, Mets and Cardinals pitchers threw a combined 652 pitches, lowering team batting averages and ERAs. For a time it looked as if the Red Birds would win, even after Cards manager Tony La Russa chose third sacker Felipe Lopez to pitch the 19th and and left fielder Joe Mather to pitch the 20th. La Russa was apparently saving his team’s arms, but it looked like the Cardinals were waving the white flag. But the game took one final turn: left-fielder-turned-reliever Joe Mather served up a sacrifice fly in the 20th to put the Mets ahead 2-1. Mike Pelfrey, normally a starter, came on to record the save — the first of his career.

The Mets 2-1 win was done by scratching and clawing, for while starter Johan Santana gave the Apples seven badly need well-pitched innings (he gave up only four hits), the Mets biggest bats remained strangely silent. David Wright, Jason Bay and Jeff Francoeur were 1 for 20, and Bay looked particularly ineffective. Bay, who is hitting .222, struck out four times. The Mets-Cards tilt provided an unusual Saturday, even for a baseball fanatic. It was possible to watch Livan Hernandez pitch at Nats Park and then drive home in time to catch every pitch of the Busch Stadium death march. The game wiped out Fox’s Saturday prime time programming and pushed back by one hour the slot for the local news. It was worth it, if only to tally a semi-rare baseball anamoly — Mets relieved Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod), came on in the 19th to get the save for the Mets, but the Cards tied the score. But the Mets scored again in the top of the 20th and Jerry Manuel brought starter Mike Pelfrey in to to do what K-Rod couldn’t. When Pelfrey succeeded, sending the Mets back to their hotel for a badly needed rest, K-Rod registered a blown save — and a win.

At the same time that the Mets and Cards were marching up Golgotha, Rockies’ starter Ubaldo Jimenez, the best fastball pitcher in the majors, threw the first no hitter in Colorado franchise history. The no-hitter was unusual in this sense: Jimenez was not particularly effective until the 6th inning when, following the advice of former Mets fireballer and now Rockies’ pitching coach Bob Apodaca, he began to pitch from the stretch. “I saw [the Giants' Tim] Lincecum last year do it,” Jimenez said after the game. “He wasn’t good from the windup, then he got from the stretch. It came to my mind. But then Apodaca came to me and I was like, ‘Of course, I’m going to try it.’” It worked. Jimenez began to put the ball down in the zone, and the walks that characterized his first five frames ceased.

Describing Jimenez as “the silent giant,” Rockies’ manager Jim Tracy was buoyed by the win and filled with praise for his starter: “In order for special things to happen, you have to have special people,” Tracy said of Jimenez. “We have a whole clubhouse full of them. But this is this man’s night tonight. In my opinion, it couldn’t happen to a better human being and a more talented human being than this guy.” The Jimenez no-no marked the third complete game of the day, an unusual occurrence in modern baseball. On Saturday, complete games were put in the books by Jimenez, Florida Marlin Ricky Nolasco — and Washington Nationals’ ace Livan Hernandez.

The Nats need a semi-miracle to pull out a 6-5 victory against the Mets on Friday, but they got one, as a hard bouncing grounder that might have led to a walk-off Mets’ win resulted in the final out in a Nationals’ victory. Closer Mike “Heart Attack” MacDougal knocked down the sharp bounder off the bat of Mets’ hitter Jeff Francoeur and lobbed it to first to give the Nats a much-needed win. With the Nats in the lead and coasting to a victory, MacDougal started the 9th inning with an out, but then pitched himself into trouble: he walked two batters, then gave up a clean single to David Wright and a fielder’s choice smash to Carlos Beltran. Daniel Murphy then hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Ian Desmond — who threw the ball away. Francoeur’s hot grounder up the middle took off MacDougal’s glove and might have ended up in centerfield (and ended the game), but MacDougal speared the ball and threw Francouer out.

 

After playing a flat — and losing — series in Philadelphia, the Nats came alive against the Mets. Ryan Zimmerman hit his 30th home run of the season (the most of his major league career), Josh Willingham hit his 23rd (and ended his three week slump at the plate by going 2-4) and Josh Bard added three RBIs. Bard was the hero of the game: the hobbled catcher was one for three with three RBIs, which included his fifth home run of the season. “I finally got an advantage count for myself. I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit,” Bard said. “I just told myself, ‘Just make sure that you are really aggressive.’ I was able to get a good pitch.” Bard was also key in dampening a Mets rally in the sixth. With the bases loaded Bard, in a close play at the plate, tagged out Carlos Beltran on a short-bounce throw from Josh Willingham in left field. It was the play of the game. J.D. Martin pitched well enough to take the win (giving up two earned runs in 5.1 innings), while Mets fireballer Mike Pelfrey (now 10-11) took the loss.