Zimmerman gets day off to work in cage (Nationals win 4-0)

PHILADELPHIA - Dusty Baker planned to give Ryan Zimmerman his share of days off down the stretch, regardless of the veteran's performance. So the fact Zimmerman was not in the Nationals lineup for tonight's series opener against the Phillies wasn't a shock.

Baker, though, didn't want Zimmerman to take the day off altogether. No, the two spent considerable time (along with other members of the coaching staff) in the batting tunnel at Citizens Bank Park earlier in the afternoon working on getting the struggling slugger back on track.

"Today was a work day for Zim, which ordinarily you can't do during the season," Baker said. "He hit quite a bit in the cage. It was a work day on his legs, a work day on his body. He was here early."

Zimmerman's return from his latest injury - a bruised left wrist - started off in encouraging fashion: he was 4 for his first 5. But since then, he's fallen back into his bad habits, going 3-for-32.

So, what's the problem?

"It's not his swing at all," Baker said. "I think it's as simple as timing, which it always is, and pitch selection. Usually when your pitch selection is off, you're not seeing the ball. ... You want to see that ball as soon as you can, recognize what it is. And right now, it looks like the guy is probably throwing halfway, and he's probably throwing aspirins instead of fastballs. We just want to work on his timing and vision. Because when you're seeing the ball, you're usually hitting it, you're not missing it. We just want to get him back in the zone and increase his odds to help us."

Zimmerman, 31, continues to sport the lowest batting average (.218), on-base percentage (.275) and OPS (.659) of his career. But the Nationals continue to stand behind their longest tenured player, and fully believe he will make a positive difference before this season is over.

"Hey man, he's a long way from through," Baker said. "We've just got to get him through this. I just know in the bottom of my heart he's going to come up big for us."

Update: The Nationals jumped out to a 2-0 lead here tonight in the top of the first, and they've managed to make that score hold up for four innings so far. Jayson Werth got things started with a solo homer, his third in four games and his 19th overall. Bryce Harper then scored all the way from first base on Anthony Rendon's single to left-center (Harper was running on the pitch).

Tanner Roark labored through his first inning, needing 24 pitches to face only four Phillies batters. But he's been all business since then, needing only 37 pitches to complete the next three innings.

Update II: And it's still 2-0 after seven innings. The Nats haven't been able to do anything with rookie Jake Thompson since the top of the first, but the Phillies haven't been able to do anything with Roark, period. He has tossed seven scoreless innings on 100 pitches in yet another impressive effort in a season full of them.

Update III: That's a final. Nats win 4-0 after scoring a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Marc Rzepczynski pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, then Mark Melancon pitched the ninth (though not in a save situation after the extra offense a few minutes earlier).