Nationals vs. Diamondbacks: Washington’s offense supports Jordan Zimmermann in victory

PHOENIX — Jordan Zimmermann walked slowly off the field Thursday, no expression on his face. He still held the ball in his hand, and before he hopped down the dugout steps he flipped it to a fan without looking up. His demeanor may not have given it away, but Zimmermann knew his current state. “Things are just rolling for me right now,” he said later.

Suddenly, after Zimmermann’s latest quality start led to a 6-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, that applies to the rest of the Washington Nationals, too. After he had spent much of this season pitching well without support from the offense, Zimmermann’s outing provided only one piece of the Nationals’ third straight win. Before 17,810 at Chase Field, the Nationals continued to extricate themselves from their recent 2-10 funk with one of their sharpest performances of the season.

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Just three days before, the Nationals were stuck in their worst rut of the season – “our rock bottom,” reliever Tyler Clippard said Wednesday. But there they were on Thursday, with their best pitcher on the mound, opening an 11-game, 11-day West Coast road swing with a convincing win over baseball’s hottest team – the Diamondbacks came into Thursday having won 16 of 19.

They won Thursday as Zimmermann added to a stretch that has him “establishing himself as someone who can pitch at the front of a rotation,” Manager Jim Riggleman said. Zimmermann has reeled off six consecutive quality starts – at least six innings and three earned runs or less – after he allowed the Diamondbacks one run in seven innings on six hits and a walk, lowering his ERA to 3.61.

“I always felt like I could pitch up here,” Zimmermann said. “I just wanted to go out and pitch the way I’ve been pitching the last month. I’ve been stringing some good starts together here.”

Unlike in previous Zimmermann starts, the Nationals struck early and never relented, scoring three runs in the first off left-hander Zach Duke. The Nationals’ offense pounded 13 hits, the most crucial a two-out, two-run double by catcher Wilson Ramos in the first. Suddenly, the Nationals have double-digit hits in four of their last five games.

Michael Morse went 4 for 5 with four singles, two runs and two RBI, raising his average since May 1 to .429, the best mark in the major leagues over that span. He also has an 11-game hitting streak. It’s hard to imagine anyone in the majors is hitting balls harder and with more consistency than Morse.

“He’s been able to relax a little more and let the ball come to him,” hitting coach Rick Eckstein said before the game. “He’s not trying to go out and get the ball.”

Said Morse: “I’m just going up there. I try to keep it as simple as possible.”

Before Thursday, Zimmermann had allowed two or fewer earned runs in seven of his 10 starts, but he had only two wins owing to lousy run support – the Nationals had scored 3.13 runs per nine innings with Zimmermann on the mound. After his last start, when he allowed two earned runs in six innings and lost, Jayson Werth made scoring more with Zimmermann pitching an imperative.