Zimmermann battles without one of his best pitches to beat Brewers 9-5

It says a lot about the top pitchers in the league that even when they don't have their best stuff, they still figure out a way to win.

Right-hander Jordan Zimmermann did Sunday. Battling through a rough first inning and a couple of other tough situations to last 5 2/3 innings and down the Milwaukee Brewers 9-5.

Zimmermann threw a season-high 116 pitches and surrendered eight hits, four runs and two homers. But he also only walked one batter and struck out seven.

Zimmermann (10-8) knew not all his pitches were what he wanted from the outset Sunday, but he kept fighting.

"I mean I did OK," Zimmermann said. "Definitely not my best, didn't have my best stuff. They punched me in the mouth in the first. Kind of woke up after that. I was doing OK for a few innings. And then we started scoring some runs. 3-2, obviously I'm going to throw a heater there to (Scooter) Gennett. But other than that, they made me battle. I threw a lot of pitches. Obviously, the pitch count was way higher than I wanted it to be."

Zimmermann has now allowed eight homers in his past five starts. Is that an alarming trend that concerns the power pitcher?

"No, obviously I'm leaving the ball up a little bit and they're putting the bat on the ball," Zimmermann said. "Try to stay down a little more, they'll probably ground out. Just one of those things that's happening."

Manager Matt Williams agreed, saying that the game situations and even the venues have added to that home run total.

"Last time out in Colorado, the curveball to give them their last run, that's a product of the environment," Williams said. "A larger lead and he doesn't want to walk anybody. On 3-2 pitch, he doesn't want to try to fool anybody in that regard. He's going to make them earn it. And they did. He hit a homer. It's the way the game goes sometimes, too. I'm not worried about him at all."

Zimmermann felt that his slider was not where or what he wanted from the pitch and he is searching for answers as to why.

"No, it was terrible," Zimmermann said. "It was backing up. I probably threw four or five good ones all game. The other ones were just spinning and staying middle. The only thing I really had was the fastball, and I threw a couple good curveballs, one to Braun, struck him out. But it was definitely a battle for me tonight.

"I just hope it comes back. It's left me before and it always comes back. I'm not too concerned right now."

Zimmermann has now given up four or more earned runs in three of his last five starts. He knows that he must find the slider that became a pitch that got guys out in the past and didn't float back into the strike zone. If he can find his good slider this week, he will be OK.

Next up is San Diego, and Zimmermann will get a scheduled start against the Marlins next weekend. With the win over the Brewers, the Nationals won their first series at home since July 22 over the Mets.

"We just need to win series," Zimmermann said. "This was a big one. We have San Diego coming in. Win that one and keep rolling."