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Zimmerman powers Nationals past Dodgers

Jun 1, 2007 - 4:46 AM WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Washington Nationals Ryan Zimmerman had a homer and four RBI, Dmitri Young went 4-for-4, and Micah Bowie made the most of his first career start against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night.

Zimmerman had a two-run homer in the first inning and a two-run double off the wall in the eighth to help the Nationals avoid a three-game sweep with an 11-4 victory over the Dodgers.

After Austin Kearns singled home Zimmerman, Ryan Church's two-run homer capped the Nationals' largest scoring output at home since they scored 11 runs here last June 17 against the New York Yankees.

"This is the major leagues," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "We're not playing American Legion baseball here or Division III college. These guys can play. You might can hold somebody down for a little bit, but sooner or later, they're going to bust out.

"Tonight, they busted out on the L.A. Dodgers."

Bowie (2-2), who was pressed into the rotation because four of Washington's five Opening Day starters are on the disabled list, allowed three runs on three hits in 5 1/3 innings. The Nationals improved to 3-0 this season when he starts.

"He's been throwing strikes since the day he signed with the Braves' organization," Little said. "I can remember when the kid signed over there and he's been a strike thrower all the way through his career. That's what's helped him stick around and pitch this long. That's impressive. You can certainly see why they would take him out of the bullpen and put him in their rotation."

Young's RBI single to left scored Cristian Guzman, who had three hits, and gave the Nationals a 4-1 lead in the fifth. The hit also chased Dodgers starter Mark Hendrickson (2-3), who allowed five earned runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.

"Hitting is contagious," Young said. "When we all hit like that, we're going to score runs."

Dodgers right-hander Yancy Brazoban entered and promptly made a throwing error that allowed Kearns to reach second as Guzman advanced to third. An intentional walk to Ryan Church loaded the bases with one out.

Brian Schneider then delivered a two-run single to right that gave the Nationals a 6-1 lead and chased Brazoban.

"That's a concern, for sure, but we'll see," Little said. "He felt something in the back of his shoulder and we'll evaluate that tomorrow in Pittsburgh and see where we stand."

The Dodgers pulled to 6-4 in the seventh by scoring a run against Nationals right-hander Jesus Colome with a leadoff double by pinch-hitter Wilson Betimit, a single by Andre Ethier and a sacrifice fly by Tony Abreu.

"We were trying to get out of town before they broke out the bats," Dodgers CF Juan Pierre said of the Nationals, who managed only nine hits in the first two games of the series. "We were hoping they would get hot against San Diego instead of us. We had them on the ropes right there when it was 6-4 but they put some hits together."

Colome, who has more wins (4) than any Nationals starter, had provided scoreless relief in 10 of his past 11 appearances.

Right-hander Jon Rauch yielded a two-out double by Luis Gonzalez in the eighth but struck out Russell Martin to end the threat.

"We tried coming back there for a moment, but we were letting them in a little bit faster than we were driving them in," Little said. "That was the rest of the story."

Closer Chad Cordero worked the ninth to pick up his eighth save of the season and his fourth in as many opportunities since returning from the bereavement list May 14.

Zimmerman followed Guzman's double with a two-run homer that gave the Nationals a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The blast snapped a two-game hitless streak for Zimmerman, who leads the Nationals with seven home runs. He has gone hitless in three consecutive games only once this season.

"We faced two good pitchers in (Brad) Penny and (Derek) Lowe, and just being able to score first and kind of put the pressure on them felt better than anything else," Zimmerman said. "That's two really good pitchers that, if they're on their game, you can't really do much against them. Hopefully we can keep this going."

The Nationals added a run in the third on a walk by Zimmerman, a single by Young and a sacrifice fly by Kearns.

Martin's fifth homer of the season and second in as many nights pulled the Dodgers to 2-1 in the second. Andy LaRoche followed with a single but was caught stealing to end the inning.

The Dodgers added two runs in the sixth on RBI singles by Nomar Garciaparra and Luis Gonzalez.