Do it again: Ryan Zimmerman’s walk-off blast leads Nationals over Yankees
Take a look around the league with Big League Stew’s daily wrap up. We’ll hit on all of the biggest moments from the day that you may have missed, while providing highlights, photos and interesting stats.
There’s a reason Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman is nicknamed Mr. Walk-off. In case anyone forgot, Zimmerman sent out a reminder Tuesday against the New York Yankees. With his 10th inning blast against Andrew Miller, Zimmerman led the Nationals to an 8-6 victory.
Zimmerman has displayed late-inning heroics before. In fact, this was the 10th walk-off home run of his career. That puts him in some elite company.
That list just includes National League players. As Jay Jaffe of Sports Illustrated notes, Jim Thome actually holds the record with 13 walk-off home runs. That list may not be 100 percent accurate considering play-by-play data wasn’t recorded until 1938. It’s possible other players from that era have more, but we aren’t entirely sure.
It was Zimmerman’s first walk-off shot in over a year, and second against the Yankees. Zimmerman’s first career walk-off home run actually came against New York’s Chien-Ming Wang in June of 2006. His last walk-off homer came against the New York Mets in 2013 with LaTroy Hawkins on the mound.
Following the victory, the Nationals celebrated in their usual fashion.
Through 170 plate appearances, Zimmerman is hitting .242/.294/.418 this season. The Nationals improved to 23-17 with the win.
YORDANO TOPS CUETO
The Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals provided one of the better pitching duels Tuesday, but the less experienced ace pulled off the victory.
Yordano Ventura was fantastic against Johnny Cueto, leading the Royals to the 3-0 win. Ventura tossed his finest game of the young season. He allowed just four over seven scoreless innings. Ventura struck out six, and did not issue any walks during the outing.
Cueto didn’t fare as well. The 29-year-old ace gave up three runs on nine hits over seven frames. He struck out four and walked one. While it was far from his sharpest outing, Cueto received no support from his offense.
That’s become an alarming trend lately.
With the victory, Ventura improved to 3-3. He has a 4.56 ERA through eight starts. The Royals sit atop the American League Central with a 25-14 record.
GRICHUK GETS GOING AGAINST METS
The St. Louis Cardinals’ bats came alive Tuesday against the New York Mets. The team notched double-digits runs in a 10-2 victory.
One of the biggest catalysts for the outburst was outfielder Randal Grichuk, who had one of the worst games possible Monday.
Grichuk redeemed himself Tuesday. The 23-year-old went 3 for 5, with two doubles and a triple during the contest. He scored one run and drove in three.
His performance allowed pitcher Michael Wacha to improve to 6-0 on the year. Wacha was excellent during the contest, allowing two runs on four hits over seven innings.
St. Louis improved to 26-13 with the win.
TAMPA BAY MOVES INTO FIRST PLACE
Few believed in the Tampa Bay Rays prior to the start of the season, and the team appears to have taken the hate personally. The Rays moved into a tie for first place in the American League East with a 5-3 win over the Atlanta Braves.
The win was a real team effort. Steven Souza Jr. was the only player on the club to notch more than two hits, and five separate players were responsible for the RBIs.
While it’s still early in the year, there’s some reason to believe in the Rays’ early surge. The club currently has a +19 run differential, which is best in the division. Both the Yankees and Blue Jays sit at +13, though, so it’s not like the Rays should hold a commanding lead.
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Still, the performance has been impressive, and proof that maybe the club was underrated heading into the year.
Want to see more from Tuesday’s slate of games? Check out our scoreboard.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
