--3B Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 26 games Friday night, again doing it with ease. Zimmerman singled sharply to left field in the first inning, the third straight time he's gotten a hit in his first at-bat to keep the streak alive. This is now the longest hitting streak in the majors since OF Moises Alou hit in 30 straight games for the Mets in 2007. Zimmerman is seven games shy of the record for a Washington-based player's hitting streak (set by Hall of Famer Heinie Manush for the Senators in 1933).
--LHP Ron Villone earned his first win as a National just hours after joining the club. Villone, who had his contract purchased from Class AAA Syracuse on Thursday, flew to Los Angeles but didn't arrive at Dodger Stadium until the second inning of Washington's game. He immediately told manager Manny Acta he'd be ready to pitch if the situation called for it and wound up tossing a scoreless seventh inning and getting credited with the win, the first by a Washington reliever this season. "It's all good," Villone said of his marathon day. "I made it, and we won." --RHP Daniel Cabrera has not pitched especially well for the Nationals six times around the rotation, but he hasn't been helped much by his defense, either. Opponents have scored eight unearned runs on Cabrera already this season, tops in the National League. SS Cristian Guzman committed two errors Wednesday night with the right-hander on the mound, one of them leading to a run. "It's just part of the game," he said.
BY THE NUMBERS: 0 -- Nine-inning starts by Nationals pitchers in 2007 and 2008. Rookie Shairon Martis finally ended the streak May 2 when he went the distance in a 6-1 win over the Cardinals.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Moments like this, games like this, they're worth five of those losses that we had before. This is what we're working for here, to develop these types of kids." -- Nationals manager Manny Acta, after rookie right-hander Shairon Martis threw a complete-game, five-hitter Saturday to beat the Cardinals, 6-1.
