WASHINGTON _ Ryan Zimmerman is the type of player the Miami Marlins, in their quarter-century of existence, have never had: a lifer. A player who was drafted by and debuted with the same organization, who became an All-Star, who signed a big-money deal to stay, who stuck around through a rebuild, who endured a mid-career crisis and who is starring again, now for a perennial contender.
And it was Zimmerman, on a night he took a franchise record from someone watching from the Marlins' dugout, who lifted his Washington Nationals to a 10-1 win over Miami Wednesday night.
Zimmerman went 4 for 4 with five RBIs, four runs scored, two homers, a double, a walk and a running, over-the-shoulder catch in foul territory. It was perhaps the best night in a resurgent season full of very good ones for Zimmerman, who finished a triple shy of the cycle.
The Nationals' first run came on Zimmerman's first home run, a solo shot to left field in the second inning. That was the 906th RBI of Zimmerman's career, breaking a tie with Marlins bench coach Tim Wallach, a star in Montreal in the 1980s and early '90s, for the all-time Expos/Nationals record.
Zimmerman's second homer of the night and 26th of the year came in his last at-bat, an 11-pitch battle with Marlins reliever Javy Guerra that ended with a blast to right field. Fans at Nationals Park responded by demanding a second curtain call of the night from Zimmerman, cheering until he obliged by peeping out the dugout steps and waving.
Watching from the Marlins' side were a handful of players who, as legitimate homegrown stars or burgeoning ones, aren't Ryan Zimmermans yet but could be one day: Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, J.T. Realmuto, Marcell Ozuna. They went a combined 2 for 10.
A lot has to go right for a player to follow a path like Zimmerman's, and it's not clear whether that quartet will get the chance. With the club's ownership situation still unclear and a rebuild potentially on the horizon, the Marlins as a whole have not made a compelling argument this season or this week against the first-place Nats that it's worth keeping the core together.
Wednesday was another step in that.
The game got away from the Marlins in the middle innings. A telling detail: Gio Gonzalez, the Nationals' starting pitcher, batted with the bases loaded in fifth and sixth innings. He made inning-ending outs both times, once on Ozuna's extended running grab in left field, so Washington settled for a combined five runs those innings.
On the mound, meanwhile, Gonzalez quieted the Marlins' bats again, though not quite in the same fashion as during his no-hit bid last week at Marlins Park. This time, he held the Marlins to one run in seven innings, striking out six and walking none. Miami scored in the fourth, when Ichiro Suzuki singled to score Derek Dietrich.
Left-hander Adam Conley countered by laboring through five innings, allowing five runs on 11 hits. He walked three and struck out four.
