"All season long, Nats right-handed pitcher Jordan Zimmermann has performed well enough to at least etch his name among the sport's elite. Ignore that 8-11 record. By almost every statistical measure he has done what starting pitchers are supposed to do – give his team a chance to win on a consistent basis. But one issue keeping Zimmermann out of that esteemed group of 10 or 15 top pitchers is his inability to finish games.

It happened earlier this season in Baltimore on May 22 when a 1-0 lead in the seventh turned into a 2-1 deficit on a Vladimir Guerrero homer. It happened Aug. 11 at Chicago when a 1-1 game turned into a 4-1 deficit after the Cubs hit two seventh-inning homers off Zimmermann. The Diamondbacks got him again on Tuesday night at Nationals Park. In a scoreless game with one out in the seventh, Zimmermann walked Chris Young on what he felt was a borderline pitch. After a visit from pitching coach Steve McCatty he gave up a two-run homer to Sean Burroughs. A pitch supposed to be down and away caught too much of the plate, according to catcher Wilson Ramos, and landed in the right-field stands.

"Yeah, he pitched a great ballgame. In the sixth inning when he finished up he was still throwing hard. Made it look easy," Washington manager Davey Johnson said. He later added with a wry smile, when asked if such disappointments are wearing on Zimmermann: "It wears on a manager, too.""