Mr. Consistency strikes again (Nats win 5-2)

Ten times this season, Jordan Zimmermann has toed the rubber for the Nationals. In nine of those 10 starts, Zimmermann has allowed two or fewer runs. In the one outlier, he allowed a whopping three runs, and that was in a complete-game victory over the Marlins. Eight of the 10 times Zimmermann has gotten a start this season, he's worked at least seven innings. He's failed to get through the sixth just once. The more you look at Zimmermann's numbers this season, the more impressive those stats appear. Zimmermann went seven solid innings tonight against the Phillies, allowing just two earned runs on six hits. The right-hander walked none and struck out one. He threw 92 pitches over those seven innings, which just barely inflated his league-leading number of pitches per inning. Zimmermann has now thrown 13.0 pitches per frame this season, far and away the best in the majors. The Nats actually gave him a decent amount of run support tonight, putting up five runs, which leaves Zimmermann in line for his eighth win, which would tie the Rays' Matt Moore for most in the bigs. Tyler Clippard just threw a 1-2-3 eighth inning, leaving the Nats three outs from victory in their first game against the Phillies this season. They'll take a 5-2 lead to the bottom of the eighth. Update: That'll do it. The Nats beat the Phillies 5-2, moving back to two games above .500. Rafael Soriano gets his 14th save, Zimmermann gets his eighth win and Steve Lombardozzi went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in the victory. The Nats benefited from a big four-run fifth inning, turning a 2-1 deficit into a three-run lead, and they never looked back. The first of 19 games between these two division rivals goes to the reigning National League East champs.