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Sports news alert  •  Sun., Sep. 28, 2014 3:53 pm
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Nats' Jordan Zimmermann
With his 104-pitch outing in a 1-0 win over the Miami Marlins Sunday, Jordan Zimmermann became the first National to throw a no-hitter since the franchise arrived in Washington in 2005.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/2014/09/28/a3d93e30-4732-11e4-891d-713f052086a0_story.html?wpisrc=al_sports

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The ball headed out toward the left field gap, a knife in the back of Washington baseball history. Jordan Zimmerman stood on the mound, stone-faced and still. The Nationals Park crowd went still and quiet for a moment.

Moments earlier, Steven Souza Jr. had hopped from the dugout and jumped in the air to warm up. Now, the rookie call-up turned and sprinted. He dived, flying in the air, and snared the ball. Zimmermann thrust his right fist in the air. The crowd erupted. History had been saved.

Sunday afternoon, in the final game of the regular season, Jordan Zimmermann threw the first no-hitter in Nationals history, the first no-hitter thrown by a Washington major league pitcher since Bobby Burke no-hit the Boston Red Sox on Aug. 8, 1931.

Zimmermann needed only 104 pitches. He threw just 25 balls, walked one, struck out 10 and allowed only five balls to leave the infield — including the last out of the game, the screamer off the bat of rookie Christian Yelich.

The first ovation Sunday afternoon came at 1:34 p.m., as the Nationals poured out of their dugout and charged on to the Nationals Park diamond. The afternoon would become a procession of appreciation. Fans sang “Happy Birthday” to Ryan Zimmerman as he took the first at-bat of his 30s in the first inning. Denard Span tipped his helmet to the roaring crowd as we walked into the dugout, after he set a new team record for hits in a season. The loudest was saved for the top of the ninth, when Zimmermann took the mound.
1 of 25
Washington Nationals win the NL East
Washington’s 3-0 win over the second -place Braves sends the Nationals to the playoffs for the second time in three years.
Nationals relief pitcher Drew Storen is mobbed after closing out the ninth inning as Washington clinches the National League East title in Atlanta. Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post

He had thrown 93 pitches, blazing mid-90s fastball and snapping off sharp curveballs. Adeiny Hechavarria grounded to second. Pinch hitter Jarrod Saltalamacchia drove a fly out to deep center, gloved easily by rookie Michael Taylor. Yelich blasted the ball to left-center. Souza, the Nationals’ minor league player of the year, laid out for the catch.

The Nationals mobbed Zimmermann first and then Souza. They watched a replay of the catch on the video board. The place went crazy.

Zimmermann’s perfect game died in the fifth inning, and his no-hitter barely survived. Garrett Jones scalded a line drive straight at Tyler Moore at first base. Reed Johnson smoked another liner, even harder, down the third base line, but Kevin Frandsen snared it with a quick reaction.

With 14 batters retired to start the game, Zimmermann walked Justin Bour, a Westfield High alum from Chantilly, with a 3-2 fastball, low and out of the zone. Catcher J.T. Realmuto ripped another line drive, but shortstop Danny Espinosa grabbed it to end the inning and send Zimmermann’s bid into the sixth.

Once Zimmermann endured those close calls, he dominated. He struck out Hechavarria with a 94-mph fastball. Alvarez rolled a grounder to second. Yelich bounced to first base.

Zimmermann grew even stronger in the seventh inning. He struck out Donovan Solano with a 78-mph curveball. Casey McGehee whiffed at a 93-mph fastball. He struck out Garrett Jones with a curveball in the dirt that squirted away from Ramos. Jones scampered to first, giving Zimmermann the chance at a four-strikeout inning. After he threw a second strike to Reed Johnson, Ramos fired a pick-off throw to first base, nailing Jones for the third out.

Zimmermann’s chance at history, his bid for the most improbable of season endings, had become vividly real, six outs away. The Marlins never threatened Zimmermann in the eighth inning. Two relievers hummed in the right field bullpen, ready to replace Zimmermann if he yielded a hit. He didn’t come close. Johnson flied to Ryan Zimmerman in left — only the third ball the Marlins had hit to the outfield all day. Realmuto could not check his on a curveball in the dirt.

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The Post Sports Live crew makes a case for Nationals manager Matt Williams to win manager of the year for the National League after leading the team back to the playoffs. (Post Sports Live/The Washington Post)
By Adam Kilgore September 28 at 3:52 PM

The ball headed out toward the left field gap, a knife in the back of Washington baseball history. Jordan Zimmerman stood on the mound, stone-faced and still. The Nationals Park crowd went still and quiet for a moment.

Moments earlier, Steven Souza Jr. had hopped from the dugout and jumped in the air to warm up. Now, the rookie call-up turned and sprinted. He dived, flying in the air, and snared the ball. Zimmermann thrust his right fist in the air. The crowd erupted. History had been saved.

Sunday afternoon, in the final game of the regular season, Jordan Zimmermann threw the first no-hitter in Nationals history, the first no-hitter thrown by a Washington major league pitcher since Bobby Burke no-hit the Boston Red Sox on Aug. 8, 1931.

Zimmermann needed only 104 pitches. He threw just 25 balls, walked one, struck out 10 and allowed only five balls to leave the infield — including the last out of the game, the screamer off the bat of rookie Christian Yelich.

The first ovation Sunday afternoon came at 1:34 p.m., as the Nationals poured out of their dugout and charged on to the Nationals Park diamond. The afternoon would become a procession of appreciation. Fans sang “Happy Birthday” to Ryan Zimmerman as he took the first at-bat of his 30s in the first inning. Denard Span tipped his helmet to the roaring crowd as we walked into the dugout, after he set a new team record for hits in a season. The loudest was saved for the top of the ninth, when Zimmermann took the mound.
1 of 25
Washington Nationals win the NL East
Washington’s 3-0 win over the second -place Braves sends the Nationals to the playoffs for the second time in three years.
Nationals relief pitcher Drew Storen is mobbed after closing out the ninth inning as Washington clinches the National League East title in Atlanta. Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post

He had thrown 93 pitches, blazing mid-90s fastball and snapping off sharp curveballs. Adeiny Hechavarria grounded to second. Pinch hitter Jarrod Saltalamacchia drove a fly out to deep center, gloved easily by rookie Michael Taylor. Yelich blasted the ball to left-center. Souza, the Nationals’ minor league player of the year, laid out for the catch.

The Nationals mobbed Zimmermann first and then Souza. They watched a replay of the catch on the video board. The place went crazy.

Zimmermann’s perfect game died in the fifth inning, and his no-hitter barely survived. Garrett Jones scalded a line drive straight at Tyler Moore at first base. Reed Johnson smoked another liner, even harder, down the third base line, but Kevin Frandsen snared it with a quick reaction.

With 14 batters retired to start the game, Zimmermann walked Justin Bour, a Westfield High alum from Chantilly, with a 3-2 fastball, low and out of the zone. Catcher J.T. Realmuto ripped another line drive, but shortstop Danny Espinosa grabbed it to end the inning and send Zimmermann’s bid into the sixth.

Once Zimmermann endured those close calls, he dominated. He struck out Hechavarria with a 94-mph fastball. Alvarez rolled a grounder to second. Yelich bounced to first base.

Zimmermann grew even stronger in the seventh inning. He struck out Donovan Solano with a 78-mph curveball. Casey McGehee whiffed at a 93-mph fastball. He struck out Garrett Jones with a curveball in the dirt that squirted away from Ramos. Jones scampered to first, giving Zimmermann the chance at a four-strikeout inning. After he threw a second strike to Reed Johnson, Ramos fired a pick-off throw to first base, nailing Jones for the third out.

Zimmermann’s chance at history, his bid for the most improbable of season endings, had become vividly real, six outs away. The Marlins never threatened Zimmermann in the eighth inning. Two relievers hummed in the right field bullpen, ready to replace Zimmermann if he yielded a hit. He didn’t come close. Johnson flied to Ryan Zimmerman in left — only the third ball the Marlins had hit to the outfield all day. Realmuto could not check his on a curveball in the dirt.

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madmanmike
5:12 PM EST
NEXT !!!!!!!!
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cinandran
5:11 PM EST
Congrats to....DSpan for the hit record...JZimm for the 1st Nats no hitter...Souza for the catch of the year...the Lerners for their second division crown...Rizzo for putting together this classy group of players...RZimm, the birthday boy and WOW what a great time to be a baseball fan in DC.
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FergusonFoont
5:08 PM EST
I'm still in "Wow! Just WOW!" mode here. How great has this year been? And it provides genuine hope of even greater and more gleeful "WOWs!" to come.

Our JV would finish in contention, I think.

A no hitter! A real no hitter! In my whole life I NEVER...
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xG-Man
5:11 PM EST
Our JV players would be starters elsewhere. That means we have a bright future next year and the year after and the year after that........
LikeReply
MarylandRoyal
5:06 PM EST
Only 1 run off 11 hits?
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FergusonFoont
5:08 PM EST
Remember, we played the JV more than half the game.
LikeReply
xG-Man
5:10 PM EST
That is what makes this even better, if that is possible.
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xG-Man
5:12 PM EST
Enough run off of 11 hits.
LikeReply
Alynne68
5:03 PM EST
How great was that!
Eleven to go.
3
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starling1
5:01 PM EST
What a way to end the regular season!
2
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Giantsmax
4:57 PM EST
congrats to Zimmerman. A lot of good vibes going for the Nats.
1
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flynnie321
4:56 PM EST
I cannot define holiness, but I know it when I see it. When Stephen Souza caught that fly ball, and when Carp and Charlie made the call, it was holy.What a privilege to witness!
2
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FergusonFoont
4:55 PM EST
I worked for NASA for many years. We trained our astronauts to conduct themselves, whenever being interviewed or interacting with the public in any way, to always conduct themselves with what we referred to as "aggressive modesty." If anyone tries to give you credit for anything, however much credit you may deserve, you correct them and insist that it only be attributed to a team effort.

It appears as if Matt Williams has imbued the Nats with that valuable and productive attitude of adamant humility, and I believe it will contribute to carrying us far this year. Hopefully, the farthest.

Jordan Zimmermann may be our most highly skilled practitioner of the art.
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xG-Man
5:06 PM EST
Matt W has instilled "team effort" this year. Every day it seems like someone else or two players or more are the "stars", if you even want to use that word. That is what I really like about this team, it is a TEAM effort, top to bottom.  
I think it was only natural for Z=Mann to praise the guys behind him, like a QB praising his O line. W/O Souza going all out to make that catch, the game could still be going.

Great pitching and great D today Nats.
1
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OPCSU1
4:54 PM EST
go Nats!
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JuniusPublicus
4:51 PM EST
Does any team want to face this starting rotation?
1
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FergusonFoont
4:56 PM EST
It depends. Are any of our upcoming opponents masochists?
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natters
4:50 PM EST
Too bad for Stras.

That could have been yesterday's game, but for a couple of missed catches (understanding the sunlight issue) in the outfield.
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xG-Man
4:52 PM EST
Saving his for the playoffs......
2
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cinandran
4:49 PM EST
WOW! A incredible regular season topped off with a no no and the best catch of the year.
1
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FergusonFoont
4:49 PM EST [Edited]
Just for the record:

The last 9-inning no hitter pitched for Washington baseball was on August 8, 1931, by Bobby Burke against the Boston Red Sox, a 5-0 Nats victory. Prior to that, on July 1, 1920, Walter Johnson got one in a 1-0 win against the Boston Red Sox. That missed being a perfect game because of a Bucky Harris error in the 7th. Those were the only no hit complete games ever pitched by Washington pitchers during the modern era.

There were also two shortened games, one by Walter Johnson on August 25, 1924 (the year we won the World Series), a 2-0 win over the St. Louis Browns called after 7 innings, and another by Carl Cashion on August 20, 1912, a 2-0 win over the Cleveland Naps called after 6 innings.

Also, on August 21, 1884, Charlie Geggus of the Washington Nationals of the Union Association pitched an 8-inning no-hitter against the Wilmington Quicksteps in a 12-1 win.

And that, my dear friends, is the COMPLETE list of no-hitters pitched by Washington pitchers in professional baseball since records have been kept.

As a footnote, the Nats Shairon Martis pitched a 7-inning no-hitter in the World Baseball Classic, won by the Netherlands 10-0 over Panama (ended early by the Mercy Rule). It was the only no-hitter in WBC history.

I don't give a tinker's dam what Expos pitchers did. They aren't us. Nobody in this town ever paid 'em any mind.

Others have stolen my name back in the early years of the Nats, "Natstradamus," and they are welcome to it. But back on April 5, 2013, I wrote a rather clever (if I say so myself) quattrain in the Nostrasamus style in which I predicted that, in atonement for giving up the first run any Nats pitcher had allowed all year (it was game 3, a 6-1 Nats victory over the Marlins the previous day,) Jordan Zimmermann would be the first Washington pitcher since the days of the Big Train to hurl a no-hitter. I have tried to find it in the Post's archives to no avail, alas! And I stupidly did not save it myself.
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xG-Man
4:59 PM EST
2) Go to "View My Comments" next to your name. Scroll back and back and....

3) Any predictions for the playoffs? You hit your 1st one this year pretty darn good.

1) You seem to have quite a memory for someone your age, unless you cut and pasted without giving proper credit.
2
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FergusonFoont
5:04 PM EST
I cannot scroll back that far. I am a rather prolific commenter, on this and many other topics.

And I do my research, but when I plagiarize I am always very careful to give full and proper attribution. With only those exceptions, my words are always my own.

And my words are usually better anyhow, if I do say so myself!
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xG-Man
5:08 PM EST
But you left off the prediction???????
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FergusonFoont
5:11 PM EST
I have searched every way from Sunday. The Post does not let me enter sufficient parameters for a useful search for an old comment to an article unless I know the exact wording of its title.

All I need is the main story, complete with comments, reporting the Nats 6-1 victory over the Marlins on April 4, 2013. It should be easy but it isn't.
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TippyCanoe
4:44 PM EST
Nothing better then what we all just witnessed, a no hitter is not baseball immortality but its sure close enough.
4
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Jack davison
5:03 PM EST
There have been those who corrected the assertion that this is the first Nationals no hitter because 1931 was the Senators. Just lifting a bit of lint, the Wikipedia history says that the original name when the AL was created and remained the official name until the move to Texas, and the Senators name came into being through popular usage ( much like the Brooklyn Eagles becoming the Trolley Dodgers. So, by that as one's rule, apart from the 1884 game before the AL, this is not the first Nationals no hitter, just the first by rhese Nationals, which is plenty good enough for me.