Turner on cycle, Murphy on Zimmerman lineup change and Ross's walk

DENVER - Here's some more insight from Daniel Murphy on his talk with Nationals manager Dusty Baker about switching the lineup up a bit to go lefty-righty-lefty. Murphy believes it was the right call to move Ryan Zimmerman to the cleanup role behind Bryce Harper because of Zimmerman's hot start. Zimmerman is hitting .371 with seven homers and 18 RBIs.

"Ryan is having an unbelievable start to the year," Murphy said. "I think it puts the opposing manager in a little bit of a tougher situation. The way Ryan is swinging the bat, you don't necessarily want righties to face him. You really don't want lefties to face him right now."

Baker told the media prior to Tuesday's game that Murphy that came to him with the idea. Murphy explained the reasoning for talking to Baker about a switch.

"I wasn't swinging the bat really well and Zim was killing it, so it was a two-fer: He was going to get more at-bats than me and it split me and Bryce up," Murphy said.

* How many times do you see the pitcher make the final out of the inning and no one thinks twice about it?

With two outs in the second, Joe Ross worked an impressive eight-pitch walk off an inconsistent German Márquez. Murphy believed it was a turning point in last night's 15-12 slugfest victory.

"I actually think that Joe's at-bat where he worked the walk was one of the biggest at-bats of the night," Murphy said. "German had worked a clean inning right there - two outs and Joe worked a walk. I'm pretty sure we look up after and we were able to score five runs that inning. It was a huge walk by Joe, great at-bat and it was a good win."

After Ross drew the walk, Adam Eaton singled and Trea Turner brought them both home with a double. Harper and Zimmerman walked and Murphy delivered an early knockdown with his three-run triple.

Ross was more modest about the at-bat.

"I wouldn't say I was the reason for the inning," Ross said. "I try to work the count and do the best I could and it kind of led to a couple bats going. I just try to be a productive batter up there in the nine-hole and it turned into something good."

* Turner's seven RBIs in a single game are second-most in Nats history to Josh Willingham's eight-RBI performance when he hit two grand slams against Milwaukee in 2009.

A lot was made of the ski mask-like red head cover Turner was wearing to stay warm.

"I'm a baby when it comes to the cold, so I'm wearing everything I possibly can," Turner said. "It's not too bad unless you get jammed or a ball off end of the bat. That stings. Just try to wear as many layers as you can and stay warm."

Turner said he wasn't quite sure he had pulled off the cycle until he came home after scoring in the seventh following his dramatic three-run triple into the right field corner.

"Yes. They were asking for the ball," Turner said. "That was my confirmation that I actually did it. I saw everybody clapping at me. It's nice when your teammates enjoy it with you. Countless number of times they said congrats to me. It's a kind of a team thing. It's nice to share it with these guys."

* The bullpen has struggled again, allowing seven runs in last night's win. One pitcher that didn't have trouble was Matt Albers, who hit the first batter he faced in the eighth but then retired three straight.

"He's been a savior for us," said manager Dusty Baker. "He comes in, he throws strikes, he throws quality strikes, and he'll always take the ball. He was really the find of the winter. I'm glad we have him."

Is Baker going to call someone up today to help the bullpen's issues? Joe Blanton allowed four runs on four hits without recording an out. His ERA is 10.13.

"I don't know," Baker said. "Everybody's kind of beat up at the end of this trip. I mean, it was cold out there tonight. It was brutally cold. But the bats were hot."