Washington didn’t manage a hit off Marlins starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco (7-7, 4.04 ERA) until the top of the fifth inning when Laynce Nix launched a solo home run. Michael Morse added an RBI double in the sixth inning, but was stranded at second with one out and his club down three runs. Nolasco had a hard, tight slider and a good change-up to go with a fastball consistently in the mid-90s. He didn’t give the Nats much of a chance. Florida then added five insurance runs in the ninth inning to break the game open.

“I see us as too good to have extended losing streaks and I keep waiting for everything to gel a little bit,” said manager Davey Johnson, whose team is 9-15 since he took over as manager on June 27. “It’s not sitting well with me. I have a high boiling point and I’m getting closer to it. I know we’re a better ballclub than we’ve shown at times.”

Zimmermann (6-9) struggled for the second outing in a row. He lasted just five innings last Tuesday against Houston and gave up six earned runs on seven hits. This time Zimmermann made it into the seventh inning. But he gave up two homers and six earned runs in all. That means his ERA has risen from 2.66 at the All-Star break to 3.27.

Johnson mentioned Zimmermann having too much rest between starts thanks to the break and a pair of quick days off during a nine-game, 10-day road trip to start the second half. Even worse, Zimmermann gave up four homers in his first 18 starts, but has been touched for three combined in the last two starts. No rhyme or reason for that other than he was due. Zimmermann entered the break allowing just 2.3% of his fly balls to leave the ballpark. That rate is far below what even the best big-league pitchers can consistently produce. Guys like Roy Halladay sit around 6% over several seasons.   

“The one that Dobbs hit was a slider in and just caught too much of the plate and the other one was a fastball down the middle. Not really up, just more down the middle than anything,” Zimmermann said.

The bullpen wasn’t much better. Sean Burnett allowed an inherited runner to score on Dobbs’ two-out single in the seventh to make it 6-2 Florida. Henry Rodriguez was a disaster in the ninth with five earned runs on three hits and three walks. He left after recording just one out. Suddenly, a team making a push towards a winning season is just trying to keep its head above water. That spark fans saw in June just isn’t there right now.   

“We’ve had good stretches where we’ve played really well. And that wasn’t a fluke,” Nix said. “We’re going to do that again and can easily get on another 10, 12-game win streak. The makeup of this club is such that it can happen.”

Nats Notes

Washington acquired left fielder Jonny Gomes from the Cincinnati Reds for minor-league outfielder Bill Rhinehart and relief pitcher Chris Manno. Check out the full story here with quotes from Gomes and general manager Mike Rizzo.

Gomes, 30, is excellent against left-handed pitching with a career .281 batting average and an .886 OPS. The Nats also received cash considerations during the transaction.

Rhinehart, 26, has 21 home runs for Double-A Harrisburg in 2011. Manno has 12 saves in 34 appearances at low-A Hagerstown while serving as the team’s closer.

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