Baker on Zimmerman's award, Blanton's homer problem

Dusty Baker has managed more than a few guys who won their league's Player of the Month award. Shoot, you don't even have to go back to his previous jobs to compile a deep roster of honorees.

When Ryan Zimmerman was named National League Player of the Month today, he became the Nats' fourth different starter to earn such an honor in the last seven months, joining Bryce Harper (April 2016) and Daniel Murphy (May and July 2016).

"I didn't even know that," Baker said when informed. "That means we did a lot of winning. And that means they had a lot to do with it. You get one or two players hot for a month, you're going to win. That's what it means to me."

Baker understands this latest award is particularly meaningful for Zimmerman, who on the heels of the worst season of his career just enjoyed the best month of his life.

"That means you the baddest cat in your league for the month," the manager said. "He was the MVP for that month. That's a heck of a month. Especially when everyone was getting on me last year to bench him, get rid of him. Remember all those days where everybody was saying things? If he goes bad, they'll say it again. But now they know that Zim is back."

Nobody expects Zimmerman to maintain a .420 batting average or 11-homer and 29-RBI pace every month the rest of the way. But Baker does expect the 32-year-old to continue being one of the most important cogs in an already productive lineup, the kind capable of putting an entire team on his back for weeks at a time.

"You know, there are carriers and there are helpers," Baker said. "Zim is a carrier."

* Much attention was given Tuesday night to Blake Treinen, who once again labored and once again was scored upon out of the bullpen, but Joe Blanton also dealt with an all-too-familiar bugaboo: the home run.

Blanton was taken deep by Jeremy Hazelbaker in the top of the ninth, turning the Nationals' 5-3 deficit into a 6-3 deficit and an even tougher hole to climb out of in the bottom of the inning.

It was the fifth homer Blanton has surrendered in only 11 innings this season, a staggeringly high rate for a guy who has never given them up like this. In his career, Blanton has allowed 1.1 homers per nine innings. So far this year, that rate has skyrocketed to 4.1 per nine innings.

"Right now, if he makes a mistake, they're not missing it," Baker said. "They're not popping it up. This is when you're in a bad groove. They're not hitting it into the ground. They're hitting it out of the park. And even if you told them in Home Run Derby what's coming, they couldn't hit everything out of the park. It's not that easy."

Baker said he doesn't see any issues with Blanton's velocity or pitch movement, only his location. Blanton has been working on some mechanical tweaks to try to address the problem, but at some point he may just have to trust that things can't continue at this rate forever.

"You know, there's not always an answer for everything," Baker said. "I know you guys are always looking for an answer. Sometimes there is no answer. I know you don't like to hear that, but sometimes there is no answer. ... Sometimes you've got to ride it out. You can try to help ride it out. But sometimes you've got to ride it out."