Zimmerman's late blast lifts Nationals to 2-1 win over Padres

SAN DIEGO - A jet-lagged Nationals lineup struggled all night at the plate against the Padres, not only to record hits in their series opener, but simply to make contact.

Then one big blast from Ryan Zimmerman made up for all the swings and misses and lifted his team to a late-night victory.

Zimmerman's opposite-field homer in the top of the eighth snapped a longstanding deadlock and gave the Nationals a 2-1 lead they managed to preserve thanks to more dominance from their new-look bullpen.

It was a much-needed blast for a Nationals lineup that had been stymied most of the night by the Padres pitching staff, which struck out eight of the previous 13 batters that stepped to the plate before the big home run late.

"We just weren't having very good at-bats, I guess," Zimmerman said. "It's going to happen every now and then. ... But you have to grind those out, and those are the kind of games that when you win them, I don't want to say you shouldn't have won them, but we kind of stole one."

The homer, Zimmerman's 29th of the season, put Edwin Jackson in line to earn the win, a just reward for the veteran starter who tossed seven innings of one-run ball in the latest in a string of strong outings from an unlikely source.

The Nationals, who arrived in San Diego late Wednesday night after a cross-country flight and were forced to place setup man Ryan Madson on the 10-day disabled list with a sprained right index finger, turned to the other two new members of their reconfigured bullpen to close this one out.

Brandon Kintzler, taking over Madson's eighth-inning duties, posted another zero to lower his ERA to 1.00 in nine appearances since his acquisition from the Twins. Sean Doolittle then retired the side in the ninth to earn his 10th save in as many opportunities.

Jackson found himself pitching with men on base all night, but the veteran starter found himself pitching out of just about every jam and taking advantage of the Padres' aggressive approach at the plate. San Diego racked up eight hits through six innings, including three doubles, but only one managed to drive in a run: José Pirela's two-out single in the third, which brought home Manuel Margot.

Despite all that traffic on the bases, Jackson never really had to break a sweat. (And not solely because of the cool marine air hovering over Petco Park on a 72-degree evening.) He kept the ball over the plate, making it to the seventh before issuing his first walk, and the Padres swung early in the count. That left Jackson's pitch count a modest 83 after seven innings.

"At the end of the day, it's about trusting your stuff, trusting what you have and letting your defense work behind you," said Jackson, who improved to 4-2 with a 2.92 ERA since joining the Nats rotation last month. "We have a great defense. We have some guys who can make plays. You have to go out and put pressure on batters to put the ball in play."

The Nationals made Jhoulys Chacin work much more than Jackson, driving up the San Diego starter's pitch count to 104 in five-plus innings, but the result was the same. They managed only one run off Chacin, via Adam Lind's sacrifice fly in the third.

There were plenty of scoring opportunities, though. The Nats squandered a two-on, no-out rally in the first, left two more men on base in the second and left the bases loaded in the third. Then they went five innings without producing so much as a hit.

Turns out they were merely setting the stage for Zimmerman's big blast in the eighth off right-hander Kirby Yates.

"I think he wanted to throw it a little more where he threw the 1-0 pitch (up in the zone) and it kind of leaked down a little bit," Zimmerman said. "I finally stayed inside of a pitch, didn't try to pull it. I honestly just put a good swing on it, didn't try to do too much."