KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Jordan Zimmermann rebounded from one of his worst career outings to go 7 2-3 strong innings, Ian Desmond hit his 18th home run, and the Washington Nationals beat the Kansas City Royals 7-2 Saturday night.
Zimmermann (15-7) tied St. Louis' Adam Wainwright for the league lead in wins and sparked the surging Nationals to their fifth straight win, all on the road.
The right-hander, who allowed eight runs in five innings at Chicago last Monday, was charged with two runs and eight hits. He struck out seven and walked just one. After George Kottaras singled with two out in the fourth, Zimmerman retired 11 straight until Emilio Bonifacio walked with one out in the eighth.
The Nationals have won 11 of 15 overall while the Royals have been staggering.
After a 19-5 surge gave fans hope for an end to a 27-year playoff drought, they've lost seven in a row and 10 of 12.
Wade Davis (6-10) allowed seven runs and eight hits in six innings, including Desmond's two-run home run in the sixth. He walked three and struck out four.
The Nationals, who erupted for seven runs in the fourth inning of a come-from-behind 11-10 victory on Friday, scored four in the same inning against Davis.
Ryan Zimmerman walked leading off and sped to third on a single by Bryce Harper, who had an RBI single in the first.
Wilson Ramos hit a sacrifice fly, Tyler Moore delivered an RBI double and Chad Tracy brought in two more runs with a bloop single.
The Royals bunched three singles off Zimmermann in the third, including Eric Hosmer's run-scoring hit into left-center. All nine of KC's hits were singles.
Fernando Abad relieved Zimmermann with two out and one on in the eighth and allowed an RBI single to Mike Moustakas before striking out David Lough to end the inning with the bases loaded.
With the victory, the Nationals guaranteed a winning interleague record for the third straight season.
NOTES: Washington outfielder Jayson Werth, who hit a two-run home run Friday night, sat out with an infection between the toes of his right foot. He was hoping to play on Sunday. ... In a salute to the Negro leagues, the Royals wore the uniform of the Kansas City Monarchs while the Nationals dressed as the Washington Homestead Grays, a rematch of the 1942 Negro Leagues World Series. ... Alex Gordon recorded his league-leading 11th outfield assist when he threw out Ryan Zimmerman in the first inning trying to stretch a single into a double.
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