Ryan Zimmerman swinging a hot bat off DL

MIAMI - It wasn't the ideal way to win, but Ryan Zimmerman's second-inning solo home run was just enough to beat the Marlins yesterday after Max Scherzer, Drew Storen and Jonathan Papelbon stacked up for a shutout.

Marlins starter and former National Dan Haren left a cutter out over the plate and Zimmerman rocketed it over the wall in left-center field, slamming off the sign of the Clevelander, Miami's infamous club in cavernous Marlins Park.

"You never know here," Zimmerman said after the 1-0 win. "This place is huge. I hit the ball well, but you gotta hit it really well here to get a home run."

Hampered by plantar fasciitis in his left foot for most of the year, Zimmerman just came off the disabled list Tuesday after missing 40 games. Thursday's tater was his first since way back on May 19 when his walk-off blast beat the Yankees in 10 innings at Nationals Park.

"Just hitting the ball well and having good at-bats is key, and not trying to hit home runs or anything like that," Zimmerman said on his approach after the long layoff. "Just grinding out at-bats and get my timing back. I think it can get better the more I play. I'm happy with where I'm at."

Zimmerman added a double in the sixth and is now 4-for-11 with three extra-base hits in three games since returning. Besides regaining a stellar glove in the field, the Nationals are hoping Zimmerman's recent success at the plate is a sign his damaging bat is back as well. Despite the long layoff, his 34 RBIs are still fourth-highest on the Nationals. If he can stay healthy, Zimmerman is guaranteed to put a charge into that total with Bryce Harper's .463 on-base percentage (second in the National League), sitting right in front of him in the order.

Following the shutdown performance by Storen and Papelbon on Thursday, Zimmerman gave his perspective on the shakeup in the bullpen.

"They are both really good pitchers, obviously," Zimmerman said. "To have both of those guys, whatever inning they pitch in, is an advantage to us. That's kind of the whole point why we went out and got Pap."

Zimmerman, the face of the Nationals and one of the leaders of the clubhouse for the past decade, offered further feelings directly toward the response from Storen after receiving the news of the trade.

"For Drew to do what he's doing and kinda do whatever it takes to give us the best chance to win kind of shows you what kind of person he is," Zimmerman said. "I don't think any of us could respect him more than we already did. But I think him doing that, I guess if it's possible, we respect him even more now. The last two times he came out in the eighth, to do what he did, obviously makes us a better team."