Vintage Zimmerman on a tear for Nats

ST. LOUIS -- Ryan Zimmerman cannot be stopped. He is the Nationals' hottest hitter, and it was his bat that helped his team edge the Cardinals, 4-3, on Wednesday night.

How hot is Zimmerman? In his last seven games, he is 12-for-29 with six home runs and 12 RBIs. He has homered in five out of his last seven games, and he homered in all three games in St. Louis.

"Most importantly, it's a big win for us," Zimmerman said. "I'd rather not talk [about the hot streak]. I just want to keep going -- just come to the field and do the stuff I've been doing before the game, staying consistent, going with that approach, not try to do too much and hit the ball hard."

Zimmerman may not want to talk about what he has accomplished lately, but teammate and Wednesday starter Max Scherzer had no such hesitation.

"He is swinging the bat better than I've ever seen him," said Scherzer, who took a no-decision after allowing two runs on 11 hits with 10 strikeouts in six innings. "He shows you how much offense he can bring. He's an RBI guy. He finds ways to get those runs home. When he can do this, it just adds length to the lineup, because you know there are guys around that can do that as well. No one is vital, but when he steps up and does stuff like this, it shows how important he really is to this ballclub."

Video: WSH@STL: Scherzer fans 10 Cardinals over six frames

Zimmerman also made some history, hitting his 200th career home run, a shot off left-hander Tyler Lyons in the sixth inning. With the blast, which gave Washington a one-run lead, Zimmerman became the first member of the Nationals to reach such a milestone.

"I'm getting old," Zimmerman, 30 and in his 11th season, all with the Nats, joked. "It hard to think about things like that when you are still playing. It's not too bad for a guy who was supposed to be a defensive specialist. Any time you do anything in this game, it's humbling. It's a really hard game. Any time you can do anything special, it's fun."

But it was the eighth inning that proved to be the difference. Zimmerman swung at a pitch from Jonathan Broxton and poked a double to right field, scoring Anthony Rendon for the game-winner.

"Zimmerman has been seeing the ball real well," manager Matt Williams said. "He is hitting the ball on the big part of the diamond. Tonight was vintage Zim on the last hit. He was staying on the ball and got it in there. He hit four homers in the series. He is a good player. He is seeing it good, and hitting it hard."