Ryan Zimmerman hit a homer in his return from a lengthy stint on the injured list, and Sean Doolittle pitched a scoreless ninth, as the Washington Nationals finished off a sweep of the Miami Marlins, 9-3, on Sunday.
Zimmerman went deep with a two-run shot in the sixth off Marlins starter Caleb Smith (8-9, 4.30 ERA), the first of back-to-back homers, ahead of a solo shot by Yan Gomes.
The 2005 UVA alum had been out since July 21, and the 15-year veteran has played just 34 games in 2019 as he has dealt with an assortment of injuries.
The homer was his fourth of the season in 121 at bats.
Anthony Rendon (32) and Juan Soto (31) also homered for Washington. Rendon’s homer, a two-run shot in the fifth, gives him 111 RBIs on the season, breaking Zimmerman’s franchise record 110 set in his second season, in 2006, one of Zim’s three 100+ RBI years.
The 111 RBIs in 2019 is an MLB-best for Rendon, who also spent a stint on the IL, missing 14 games in April and May.
Patrick Corbin (11-6, 3.19 ERA) got the win for the Nats (77-58), giving up three runs on three hits in six innings, and his eight strikeouts pushed him past the 200K mark for the season.
Corbin is one of three Nats pitchers (Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer) with 200+ Ks in 2019. The Nationals are one of four teams in MLB history (1967 Minnesota Twins, 1969 Houston Astros, 2013 Detroit Tigers) to have three pitchers with 200+ Ks.
Doolittle, a 2007 UVA alum, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth in his return from the IL. Doolittle, the Nats closer, had last pitched in the Aug. 17 extra-innings loss to Milwaukee, recording a blown save after giving up four earned runs in a third of an inning in which he was lit up for three home runs.
Story by Chris Graham
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