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Zimmermann stung by one bad inning vs. Mets

Nats righty allows three home runs over a span of five pitches

NEW YORK -- Nationals right-hander Jordan Zimmermann was solid in five of the six innings he pitched in Sunday's 5-2 loss to the Mets.

However, the third inning sent Zimmermann on his way to his seventh loss. After allowing a two-run homer to Curtis Granderson with two outs, Zimmermann allowed three more runs on four pitches. Daniel Murphy followed with a back-to-back homer, and Lucas Duda capped the scoring with a two-run blast.

Zimmermann seemed shocked about giving up the home run to Duda because the ball was far inside and didn't look like it would travel over the fence. Zimmermann allowed five runs on six hits in six innings.

"I hung a curveball to Granderson. It was a bad pitch," Zimmermann said. "Then I left a fastball middle for Murphy next pitch. The ball Duda hit, I'm not sure how it's physically possible to hit the ball where I put it. I put it where I wanted to. I can't be mad at that pitch. He is probably the hottest guy in baseball right now. For him to hit the ball where he did and where it was located, you just have to tip your cap."

The Nationals now go home to Nationals Park to face the D-backs in a four-game series. Zimmermann believes the Nationals will get back to their winning ways.

"We are going to go home to play our type of ball," Zimmermann said. "If we start pitching a lot better, we are going to score some runs and hopefully go on a good run. ... We are fine. We are going to bounce back. Nobody is panicking right now."

Bill Ladson is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, All Nats All the Time. He also can be found on Twitter @WashingNats.
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