• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Zimmerman blasts two as Nationals rout Cardinals

Aug 5, 2007 - 3:56 AM By Tim Hipps PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

WASHINGTON (Ticker) - Ryan Zimmerman started one five-run rally and capped another.

Zimmerman blasted two home runs and rookie Joel Hanrahan pitched effectively for five-plus innings as the Washington Nationals cruised to a 12-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.

It was Zimmerman's first multi-homer performance of his career and his first blast since July 17.

Zimmerman's upper-deck homer to left off Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro (0-1) tied the score at 1-1 and started a five-run rally in the fourth inning.

The 22-year-old Zimmerman, who leads the club with 17 home runs, smashed another home run - a two-run shot to left-center - to cap another five-run inning and gave the Nationals a 10-1 lead in the sixth.

"Those felt pretty good," Zimmerman said. "The first one was a fastball. The second one was a curveball.

"I'm just being a little more patient. I'm getting pitches that I can handle and not trying to do too much. I'm laying off pitches early in the count. When you're in command, you can look for the pitches you want."

Making his second major-league start, Hanrahan (1-0) allowed just one run and six hits over five frames. The righthander had three strikeouts and three walks.

The 25-year-old rookie hit a two-run double and later scored on Pineiro's throwing error, which capped the Nationals fourth-inning rally to take a 5-1 advantage.

"Facing the world champions, to get that first win is a little pressure off my back," Hanrahan said. "It's been a long week. I've been waiting for this day to come. It didn't feel like it would ever get here.

"I've been in the minors for so long, you wonder if you have the stuff to be here," added Hanrahan, who spent seven seasons in the Dodgers' minor-league system.

Hanrahan allowed back-to-back singles to Scott Rolen and Chris Duncan to begin the sixth and was relieved by righthander Saul Rivera with no outs. Rivera issued a one-out walk to Juan Encarnacion to load the bases then induced Yadier Molina to ground into a double play to end the threat.

"I knew with our bullpen there, we'd be in good shape," Hanrahan said. "Anytime you get extra insurance runs, it's a good feeling."

Washington has won a season-best five in a row, their longest winning streak since Aug. 31-Sept. 4, 2006.

Brian Schneider's two-run homer, his fifth of the season, gave Washington a 12-1 lead in the seventh.

"I finally had a day off from managing," Nationals manager Manny Acta said. "It was the first time I could just lay back and wait for 27 outs. It was nice for my brain cells."

Nook Logan, who went 3-for-3 with two RBI, delivered an RBI double in the sixth inning. Tony Batista followed with an RBI base hit to left center and later scored on Ronnie Belliard's sacrifice fly to set the stage for Zimmerman to smack his second homer of the game.

"Anytime you can play a game and be a little relaxed, that helps out," said Zimmerman, who has 11 RBI in his past seven games. "If you do something productive every night, things are going to be where they're supposed to be. It seems like every year some big name guy struggles in the beginning of the year, Manny Ramirez or Ryan Howard. Baseball is baseball, but it always seems to turn out.

"I'm not a big numbers guy. I'm a day-to-day guy. I don't set numbers goals. That's when you get into trouble."

Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa already has seen enough to form an opinion about Zimmerman.

"He's impressive," LaRussa said. "He's already established himself as one of the premier guys."

Kennedy's third homer of the season, a shot that barely cleared the fence just inside the right-field line, gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the third. But that wasn't nearly enough on this night.

"The pitching's not good enough and the hitting's not good enough," LaRussa said. "That's how you get that kind of differential.

"It's just the Cardinals getting beat. We had chances several times in both games to get a big hit to change the outcome of the game. Then you miss those chances and they pull away. We definitely didn't pitch good enough, but our hitting - what did we get, one run? It's a team loss."

Kennedy batted ninth in the Cardinals lineup because LaRussa resorted to his bag of tricks by batting starting pitcher Pineiro in the eighth spot and putting infielder Aaron Miles on the mound in the eighth inning.

Miles retired the Nationals in order in the eighth.

"I've never done that before so I didn't think it would go that smoothly, that's for sure," Miles said. "I was just throwing the old sinkerball that I turn the double play with usually."

Pineiro surrendered five runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and two walks over five innings in St. Louis' fourth straight defeat.

"I could've had better execution of my two-strike pitches," Pineiro said. "I fell behind and I had to come back in the middle of the plate and they got the hits at the right time."