Flores, Zimmermann lead the way at home The last time Jesus Flores hit a home run in the major leagues his future seemed so bright. He had earned the starting catching job for the Nationals, was off to a hot start and seemed certain to anchor that position for years to come.
That was May 8, 2009. The next day Flores took a foul tip off his right shoulder in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks and everything changed. It took almost two years for Flores to return to the sport full time. And only in the past six weeks has he spent sustained time on Washington’s roster.
Those trials and tribulations since made Flores’ solo home run on Thursday night against the Cincinnati Reds all the more meaningful. That blast over the left-field fence — Flores’ first since his initial shoulder injury — broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning and helped the Nats to a 3-1 victory over the Reds at Nationals Park.
| Nationals notes |
| » Washington introduced third-round draft pick Matt Purke, a left-handed pitcher from Texas Christian, at a pregame press conference. Purke says he is completely recovered from a sore shoulder that limited him during his final college baseball season. |
| » Nats prospect Bryce Harper left Double-A Harrisburg’s game at Akron while running from first base to third on an eighth-inning single. He had to be helped off the field with a right hamstring injury. He will be re-examined Friday. |
| » Reliever Ryan Mattheus recorded the final out of the sixth inning and was set to start the seventh when he left Thursday’s game due to right shoulder tightness. He is listed as day-to-day. |
A two-run single by Jonny Gomes in the sixth inning extended Washington’s lead to 3-0. An error by Ian Desmond, a wild pitch by reliever Henry Rodriguez and a passed ball charged to Flores allowed Cincinnati to score its lone run on an infield ground out. With the win, the Nats improved to 59-63 and took two out of three from the Reds, who fell to 60-64. Next up for Washington is a three-game weekend series at home against the first-place Philadelphia Phillies.
Flores, who returned to the Nats thanks to an injury to catcher Ivan Rodriguez (strained left oblique), has seen limited playing time since a July 8 recall from Triple-A Syracuse. Thursday was just his 10th start. In 39 at-bats Flores has nine hits — three of them doubles plus the home run off Reds starter Bronson Arroyo (7-10, 5.28 ERA) — and two walks with 12 strikeouts. They’re not overwhelming numbers, but Flores is just happy to be back in the big leagues.
“It was kind of an exciting emotion inside for me,” Flores said. “The feeling to hit a homer back in the big leagues. I had a few in Triple-A, but here is different. Very excited about it, especially having a good game, too, [no score] in the sixth and then to the go-ahead [run], too.”
Meanwhile, Washington starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann (8-10) pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings — helped in part by a strikeout from reliever Ryan Mattheus with runners at first and second and two outs in the sixth. Zimmermann gave up six hits, walked two batters and hit another. But Cincinnati stranded eight runners in the first six innings alone and 10 total.
Zimmermann lowered his ERA to 3.11. He is also now at 150 2/3 innings for the season. The Nats had set an innings limit of 160 for Zimmermann, who is in his first full year back from Tommy John surgery. But before the game manager Davey Johnson said that wasn’t necessarily a strict limit, leaving open the possibility Zimmermann could make two more starts before Washington shuts him down for the season.
Zimmermann knows better than anyone how Flores felt, stuck in Viera, Fla at extended spring training last season just hoping that the strength in his right shoulder would return. Just 18 months ago he couldn’t even throw a ball back to the pitcher’s mound from home plate. Zimmermann was right there with him in the spring and early summer of 2010 recovering from his own surgery.
It was fitting then that as Flores crossed home plate after his first home run in over two years, Zimmermann greeted him in the on-deck circle with a smile: “It’s about time, huh?” Together they laughed, each man confident now they can still reach their ceilings as players. For both men that was in doubt.
“I feel healthy. I know that’s enough for me to just be even better guy than I was before,” Flores said. “I know this year has been more my comeback year, get used to everything again. But it’s not like I don’t know what to do. It’s just like get ready, get used to it and get ready for next year.”
