Entering the sixth inning, there seemed to be a collective awareness of twitter that Washington Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmermann had not allowed a runner to reach base. So, two pitches later Philadelphia Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz reached all the bases when he homered. That would prove to be enough for the visitors, but two errors led to more Phillies runs in the 7th inning. Final score, Philadelphia 4 WASHINGTON 0.

In the third inning, Espinosa had doubled and reached third base after a sacrifice. Running on contact, he was thrown out at the plate when Zimmermann grounded right to shortstop Jimmy Rollins. That was the best opprutunity the Nats had against Cliff Lee, who pitched Philadelphia’s second consecutive complete game. The last time that happened, according to the Washington Nationals Radio Network — 1999.

After six games, leadoff hitter Ian Desmond is still hitless at Nationals Park.

Nationals vs. Phillies: Cliff Lee’s shutout outdoes Jordan Zimmermann’s five perfect innings – The Post
Zimmermann dazzles, but Lee shuts down Nats – CSN Washington
Zimmermann’s strong outing goes for naught vs. Phils – The Wash. Times

Also of note, Stephen Strasburg has not yet begun throwing off a mound., according to Nationals Journal (The Post), meaning his is behind the Zimmermann track for recovering from Tommy John Surgery. On Wednesday evening, I was telling a co-worker that I did not expect to see Strasburg pitching in the majors this year and this pretty much confirms the hunch.

Oh and Fleas manager Charlie Manuel said some stuff that Thomas Boswell wanted to hear, like:

“But they are determined to get it right. They have a plan now. They have definitely improved already. They’ve always played us a lot of close games until the late innings. But then their defense, and [mental] mistakes, they’d just absolutely give us . . . [pause] . . . Let’s say if you stayed with ’em, they’d usually beat themselves. But that’s changing.

“They’ve played every team in the division already. They play the Braves better now; the Mets and Marlins, too. And it looks like they play us better

No, no, no Cholly, they have “PHASE 2” now!

In the end, the Nats got one win in the series, the game they “had” to win against starter Joe Blanton. They had a shot late against Roy Halladay in the 9th two nights ago. They had nothing against Lee.

I am now behind 1-2 in The 2011 Cheesesteak/Half-Smoke Challenge. If I was 0-3, I would not even have feint hope.