He was frank about how it ended. Harper drove in the game-winning run as the Nationals won 2-1 in 12 innings.
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“Yeah, I heard it for sure”, he said.
Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola, who did not figure in the decision, allowed no runs and six hits with five strikeouts before he was lifted after five innings.
The Nationals went down meekly in the series opener to the major league-worst Phillies, who cranked out four homers to push Washington to the brink of elimination.
More than a lack of closure or missing out on a show of appreciation, Zimmermann said he was just disappointed with the results he got in what might be his last start as part of the Nationals’ rotation. “He hadn’t been out to any of my games to watch me”.
He received a warm ovation from the crowd when he walked in from the bullpen prior to the game.
“It was awesome”, he said. “It was awesome. It means a lot to me, just wish I could have given them something a little better tonight”.
Washington Nationals’ Bryce Harper (34) gestures and walks along the dugout after a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Saturday, September 26, 2015, in Washington. Altherr homered again in the fifth inning, and his night became even more rare. You might guess it was someone with a notorious reputation however the honor of the first inside-the-park grand slam since 1999 belongs to Philadelphia Phillies’ rookie Aaron Altherr.
With the Phillies taking on the Washington Nationals, Altherr was up in the top of the third inning and, well, this was certainly a sight to see. “Right there I felt like I had a good bead on the ball and thought I had a chance at it. In that situation, you better catch the ball and I wouldn’t have gone for it if I didn’t think I could. I hit into a triple play once”, Mackanin quipped.
As left fielder Werth scrambled to retrieve it, the bases cleared and Altherr raced all the way around, sliding home to complete the grand slam without a play at home. “Hopefully I can keep riding that feeling the rest of the year”. “But I can’t remember”. Otherwise, hits and base runners were few and far between for the Phils. Acquired in a trade from the Phillies in late July, Papelbon was ejected on Wednesday when he hit 3B Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles in the ninth inning after Machado hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh off RHP Max Scherzer.
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Darin Ruf had the Phillies’ first two hits against Strasburg and scored in the eighth on Brian Bogusevic’s one-out double.
