Jordan Zimmermann had never pitched in front of a crowd as big as the one he saw Sunday. In fact, he'd never pitched in front of a crowd a quarter of that size.
His first major-league start last week was in front of an announced crowd of 12,473, a crowd that in reality was much smaller thanks to a two-hour rain delay. And they don't get many five-figure (or even four-figure) turnouts at Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where Zimmermann went to college. But the way he handled the Mets in front of 40,023 on Sunday, you'd never have known it.
Zimmermann allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings, recovering from a 30-pitch first inning to earn his second win in as many starts. He struck out Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and David Wright a combined five times, including three against Wright.
His first strikeout of Wright ended the first inning with a man on third. Zimmermann froze the three-time All-Star with a curveball on a 1-2 count, and came back with the same pitch on a 2-2 count in the sixth inning. Wright swung over the top of that one.
"Everybody knows he's got a live arm, and (the breaking pitches) will keep people from cheating on the fastball and timing him," manager Manny Acta said. "He's got four pitches. I think the best one is that curve that he has. It's slower, so it kind of changes up the pace for the hitters."
NATIONALS 8, METS 1: Zimmermann kept the Mets' offense quiet while Washington scored seven runs off Oliver Perez before the end of the fifth inning. Jesus Flores hit his second homer of the series, a two-run shot in the top of the second, and Austin Kearns launched a 420-foot blast in the fifth as part of a four-run inning.
