Zimmermann, Rendon and Span after 11-0 shutout of Phillies

Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon had three hits, including a double and a three-run shot, with four RBIs in an 11-0 shutout of the Phillies Saturday night. Rendon needed a triple in one of his final two at-bats to hit for the cycle, but grounded out and flew out. "I heard people in the stands, 'Get the triple, get the triple.' I didn't want to. That means I've got to run more," Rendon smiled. "So I can just stop at second base." Rendon was happy to be able to get just one base hit, much less three against a pitcher with the experience that A.J. Burnett brings to the game. "We just know he is a great sinkerball pitcher," Rendon said. "He's done this for a long time. He's a good veteran. He's been around. We just wanted to see the ball up off of him. We got to it a couple times." Rendon said he was not affected by the conversation that apparently was going on between Burnett and home plate umpire Chris Guccione. "I don't know. I try not to pay attention too much," Rendon said. "I try to worry about what pitches he's going to throw me next." Following Rendon's three-run shot, Burnett was tossed from the game by the umpire one pitch into Jayson Werth's at-bat. Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg was ejected for arguing soon after. Jordan Zimmermann went seven strong innings and allowed no runs and no walks on five hits, striking out eight. He also went 1-for-2 at the plate with two walks, a run and was a few feet away from a run-scoring double only to see Marlon Byrd make a running catch for a long flyout in the third. "I felt good. It was one of those games it was a little more difficult with such long innings and heading back out there and trying to get a few extra pitches, get loose again," Zimmermann said. "These guys gave me runs early, I was able to settle in and just throw strikes and let the defense work." Rendon said Zimmermann doesn't get enough credit for how well he can swing the bat, too. "We know what he can do from the beginning," Rendon said. "We see him hit BP. We see all of our guys hit BP. They hit the ball farther than us. It's pretty crazy." Zimmermann said he felt close to extra bases on his fly ball to Byrd in the third. "Everybody says the ball's to right-center in the summer, but I don't know what happened there," Zimmermann said. He also said the big lead did not change his strategy on the mound. "I'm still throwing the same pitches," Zimmermann said. "If I do fall behind, I'm just going to lay them over the middle. If they get a base hit, they get a base hit. I'm definitely not going to walk anyone and just keep attacking the whole game." He said he has felt pretty good on the mound recently after having to leave his start against the Phillies on July 11 due to a right biceps strain. "You're never really sure what it's going to feel like when you get back on the mound (and to) be able to go 100 pitches," Zimmermann said. "Having a couple of starts under my belt now, everything feels great, so that's a thing of the past." "Jordan does what he does. He's an All-Star," Rendon concluded. "He's a great pitcher. He's phenomenal. I don't know how to explain it." Rendon and leadoff man Denard Span were a part of a quick run in the first when they both got base hits and stolen bases to earn a 1-0 first-inning lead. "Whenever we can score first, had a coach in the minor leagues always say score first and the percentages go up of you winning," Span said. "That's definitely our job as the one and two hitters on the team." Can an 11-0 rout carryover to Sunday? "I hope so. You really never can predict that," Span said. "It seems like when you go out there and score a lot of runs, the next day you don't score as many runs. So hopefully that's not the case. Hopefully we come out tomorrow ready to go. We've got a tough pitcher in Cole Hamels going. Hopefully it can carry over." Span said Zimmermann was close to masterful tonight and was fun to watch from his center field vantage point. "That was good. That's what he does best, pounds the strike zone," Span said. "He was on point. He didn't let his foot off the gas. Even when we got the big lead, he just kept going. It was fun to watch. As a defender, it's easy to play defense when he's doing what he is doing. "Him swinging the bat, it was fun coming behind him, him drawing walks. He just did it all tonight basically." Span said the atmosphere in the dugout was upbeat as the team piled up 11 runs and 14 hits in the rout. "It's a lot of fun. We lost two tough games, the first two games of the series," Span said. "It's a lot of fun just scoring runs because we hadn't scored any runs the previous two games. Just keep the line moving. Just trying to get your hits and get as many runs as possible."