Nationals-Padres: Rain Doesn't Send the Nats Bats Away, Win 13-1

Zimmerman got things going with a monster bomb to center in the bottom of the first inning, scoring Guzman and giving the Nationals the early 2-0 lead.

Then the rain came. The Nationals waited…and waited…and waited. It started to look as if their early offensive output would be for nothing as the game may be rained out.

Finally, 3 hours and 11 minutes later, the teams took the field again.

The startup would be even more power-packed for the Nats than their first inning. With two outs, the young pitcher, J.D Martin, started things off with a walk. Nyjer Morgan singled him to third, and Guzman singled him in. Then the Padres walked the red hot Zimmerman, opting to face the big donkey, Adam Dunn.

Mistake.

Dunn launched a grand slam to deep center, giving the club a 5-0 lead. After Willingham made the last out, Martin took a seat and Tyler Clippard came in for some long relief.

He dominated. In four innings he struck out seven, walked one, and allowed only one hit. More amazing is that with those seven strikeouts, Clippard only pitched 56 pitches in four innings; 37 of them strikes.

The Nationals bats provided the rest of the run support:

Njyer Morgan- 4/5, 2 runs scored
Cristian Guzman- 3/5, 4 runs scored, 1 RBI
Ryan Zimmerman- 3/4, 1 HR, 1 2B, 4 runs scored, 3  RBI, 1 BB (only out came on a ball hit to center that missed being a bomb by 1 foot).
Adam Dunn-2/3, Grand Slam, 1 R, 5 RBI,
Josh Willingham- 2/4, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Ridiculous, it was as if their offensive prowess had been built up for the last week and unleashed last night.