Zimmerman sets D.C. home run record (Nats lose 10-6)

Ryan Zimmerman now stands alone as the greatest home run hitter in Washington baseball history.

With a three-run, opposite-field shot in the bottom of the third this afternoon, Zimmerman recorded his 238th home run with the Nationals, surpassing Frank Howard's record for a D.C. major league ballplayer.

Zimmerman, the Nationals' first draft pick in 2005 and the longest tenured member of the organization, set the mark in his 1,501st career game. Howard, who clubbed 382 homers in a 16-year career with three different organizations, hit 237 of those while playing 1,077 games for the Senators from 1965-71 (earning "Hondo" a statue outside Nationals Park.

Zimmerman's record may be one of longevity - and who knows how long it will last, especially if Bryce Harper winds up staying in Washington after he becomes a free agent - but it is nonetheless an impressive accomplishment for the man who willingly served as the face of the franchise during its down years, then struggled through injuries as the club got better and now is enjoying a renaissance at age 32.

This was Zimmerman's 23rd homer of the season, his most since 2013. It was his third in his last seven games, a stretch in which he not only passed Howard for the Washington home run record but also passed Vladimir Guerrero for the Expos/Nationals franchise record.

Zimmerman's three-run blast today elicited a curtain call from the home crowd and brought the Nats back from a 4-1 deficit on a day when Erick Fedde is making his major league debut.

Fedde has come out throwing strikes, but that alone hasn't been enough against a very tough Rockies lineup. Despite his command of the strike zone, Fedde has given up four runs in three innings in his first career start, done in by the dangerous top of Colorado's potent batting order.

The 1-2-3 trio of Charlie Blackmon, D.J. LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado - all 2017 All-Stars - has gone 5-for-5 with a walk so far against Fedde. The rest of the lineup has gone 1-for-8, but the production from the top has made four early runs possible.

Which isn't to say Fedde has looked overwhelmed in his debut. The organization's top pitching prospect hasn't looked out of his element at all. He threw first-pitch strikes to the first nine batters he faced (an impressive accomplishment for a veteran, let alone a rookie). He struck out the side in the second inning. And when faced with jams, he twice induced double plays from Gerardo Parra, sacrificing a run in each case for two outs.

Fedde's pitch count is at 59 through three innings, and there's some question how far the Nationals are willing to push the 24-year-old, who only made four starts for Triple-A Syracuse after spending two months as a minor league reliever.

Update: Fedde's day came to an end after four innings, the Rockies tacking on three more runs in the top of the fourth. The final line (4 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) doesn't look good, but that honestly doesn't tell the whole story. Fedde threw strikes (57-of-87 pitches), threw first-pitch strikes (18-of-23 batters) and showed good stuff. He had trouble putting away hitters, but that's an awfully good lineup he had to face, and there wasn't all that much hard contact. We'll see what happens next - and Stephen Strasburg's elbow and Edwin Jackson's performance will have a lot to do with it - but I would think the Nats are going to want to see more of Fedde.

Update II: Make it 8-4 Rockies after Matt Grace allowed a pair of doubles in the sixth. The Nationals haven't been able to do much offensively since Zimmerman's homer in the third, held in check by left-handers Kyle Freeland and Chris Rusin. That duo has been particularly tough on Bryce Harper this afternoon; Harper is 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in this game.

Update III: Zimmerman is having himself quite a day. He just homered again, this time taking Pat Neshek deep to right-center. That's his second homer of the day, his fourth homer in seven games, his 24th homer of the season and 239th homer of his career. And he now has 905 RBIs, which ties him with Tim Wallach for the Expos/Nationals franchise record. Nats still trail 8-5 after seven.

Update IV: And the Nationals lose the opener of today's doubleheader, 10-6. The Rockies tacked on insurance runs against both Enny Romero and Oliver Pérez, and the Nats lineup could never get anything else going beyond the three homers by Zimmerman and Difo. They did try to get something going in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases and forcing the Rockies to bring in closer Greg Holland. Anthony Rendon's RBI single cut the deficit to four runs and brought Howie Kendrick to the plate representing the tying run, but Kendrick grounded into a double play, and that's all she wrote (despite a replay review to see if shortstop Trevor Story's foot came off second base while he made the turn). So the Nats will need a win tonight behind Edwin Jackson to avoid a series sweep before heading to Miami.

Update V: For game two of the doubleheader, the gates to the stadium will open at 6:50 p.m., with a 7:40 p.m. first pitch.