Down two runs going into the ninth inning, the Nats were headed for their ninth loss in a row on Sunday afternoon against the Florida Marlins. Then Willie Harris homered, Cristian Guzman beat out an infield single on a bad foot and Ryan Zimmerman belted a two-run homer of his own – yet another game winner from the undisputed Face of the Franchise. Just like that, fans left Nationals Park smiling thanks to an improbably 5-4 victory.
Zimmerman has done this before – many times. It was his fifth walk-off homer and the ninth walk-off hit of his career. Zimmerman now has 28 home runs – a career high – and 93 RBI. He is 17 shy of his career high in that category with a little over three weeks left in the season. Safe to say, the Nats are already reaping the benfits of the five-year, $45 million contract extension Zimmerman signed in April. If he doesn’t win a Gold Glove as the game’s best defensive third baseman it will be pure robbery. He does have 13 errors thanks mostly to a hitch in his throwing motion that hurt him earlier in the season. But no one in the National League gets to as many balls as Zimmerman at that position. Oh, and he won’t turn 25 until the end of the month. Whatever other holes the Nats have – and there are many throughout the diamond – third base isn’t one of them. And it won’t be for a long while.
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