Phillies take early lead against Nats (Zimmermann leaves with injury, Nats fall 6-2)

After sailing through the first inning, Nationals right-hander Jordan Zimmermann ran into a bit of trouble in the second. After striking out Ryan Howard for the first out, Zimmermann allowed back-to-back singles to Marlon Byrd and Cody Asche. Domonic Brown then hit a two-run double to center to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. Zimmermann ended the inning by striking out the last two batters. Through two innings, Zimmermann has thrown 25 pitches. The Nationals have two hits off of A.J. Burnett. Not surprisingly, Adam LaRoche led off the second inning with a double. Coming into the game, LaRoche was a .393 career hitter against Burnett. Update: Zimmermann allowed a two-run homer to Jimmy Rollins in the third inning to extend the Phillies' lead to 4-0. Zimmermann's four earned runs are the most he's given up since May 23. He has struck out five, but has thrown 45 pitches. Update II: With one out in the fourth, Zimmermann appeared to injure himself and signaled for trainer to come out to the mound. Cameron Rupp was at the plate with a 2-2 count. Zimmermann left the game after talking to head trainer Lee Kuntz, manager Matt Williams and pitching coach Steve McCatty. Craig Stammen replaced Zimmermann. At this point, the injury remains unknown, but replays showed Zimmermann to be shaking his right hand in between pitches. Update III: The Phillies added another run in the sixth to push their lead to 5-0. Stammen allowed a one-out double to Byrd and issued a two-out walk to Brown. One batter later, Byrd scored on Rupp's RBI double, but Brown was thrown out trying to score. In the top of the seventh, Bryce Harper hit a solo blast to cut the Phillies' lead to 5-1. It was the first homer Harper has hit since coming off the disabled list on June 30. Update IV: Rollins' second homer of the game, a two-out solo shot in the seventh extended the Phillies' lead to 6-1. One batter later, Jerry Blevins came in to replace Stammen and immediately struck out Ryan Howard. Stammen pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowed two runs, walked one and struck out two. Update V: In the top of the eighth, the Nats had two runners on with two outs for Ryan Zimmerman. The Nats third baseman doubled to left field to drive in a run and cut the Phillies' lead to 6-2. Update VI: Ken Giles retired the Nats in order in the ninth to give the Phillies a 6-2 win. With the loss, the Nats fall to 49-42 on the season. We're still awaiting word on Zimmermann's injury.