Jordan Zimmermann is a machine (updated again)

The level of consistency that Jordan Zimmermann has delivered this season has been remarkable, if not a little freaky. Zimmermann has thrown five shutout innings again tonight, lowering his season ERA to a miniscule 2.37 and leaving him one frame short of his 19th straight outing of at least six innings. The Mets have notched just three hits off Zimmermann, two of which were bloops off the bat of David Wright. Zimmermann hasn't walked a batter, has struck out four and has needed just 77 pitches to get through five innings. It's a typical Zimmermann start, and making it even more typical is that the righty hasn't gotten any run support. We've got a scoreless ballgame going to the sixth inning. The Nationals have yet to score off Mets veteran righty Chris Young, and even though Young brings his fastball at a mere 85 mph, Washington's hitters have done little with it. In 10 innings against Young this season, the Nats have notched just two runs off him. Meanwhile, down on the farm, Chien-Ming Wang went four innings for Single-A Potomac tonight, allowing three earned runs, three hits and two walks. Wang struck out one, tossed one wild pitch and threw 66 pitches, 36 of which were strikes. Update: Zimmermann completed his six innings, meaning he's gone at least six in all 19 starts this season. He also is in line for his seventh win of the year after Adam LaRoche blasted a two-run homer to the red seats in left-center in the bottom of the sixth. It was LaRoche's 16th homer of the season and finally got the Nats on the board. They lead 2-0. In the six games since the All-Star break, Nationals starters have pitched to a 1.50 ERA. Super-tight ballgames, fantastic starting pitching - I feel like we're in April all over again. Update II: The Mets got a run back in the top of the seventh, but the Nats responded with two of their own in the bottom-half of the inning on Steve Lombardozzi's two-run double to right-center. The deep fly off the out-of-town scoreboard brought around Jesus Flores and Roger Bernadina, who each reached on two-out singles. It's 4-1 Nats as we go to the eighth, with Sean Burnett and Tyler Clippard set up to close it out.