Zimmerman again delivers in clutch

It has happened so many times now that it’s almost expected.

Tie game. Bottom of the ninth. Man on base. Ryan Zimmerman at the plate. Is there any doubt what happens next?

“Obviously, he’s been the guy for us,” teammate Brian Schneider said. “He’s leading the major leagues in game-winning hits. Yada, yada, yada. I don’t want to throw out all the stats. But that’s the guy you want up to bat, there’s no doubt it.”

And there was no doubt about Zimmerman’s latest game-winner yesterday, a soft single to right field on a 3-2 slider from San Francisco Giants reliever Brian Wilson that scored Felipe Lopez from second and gave the Washington Nationals a 2-1 victory before 27,310 at RFK Stadium.

What else is new?

Zimmerman has become king of the clutch situation. His 16 game-winning RBI lead the National League. Three of those were game-enders. Combined with three other game-ending hits last season (plus a game-ending walk), Washington’s 22-year-old third baseman now has produced seven “walk-off” wins in his first two full big league seasons, more than any other player in the game.

“That’s why he’s the face of this franchise,” manager Manny Acta said. “He’s going to be doing this for a lot of years.”

Zimmerman’s latest heroics capped a tense pitchers’ duel at RFK, one that saw Nationals rookie Matt Chico match former Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito through seven standout innings.

Making his return to the Washington rotation following a two-week stint at Class AAA Columbus where he worked out some kinks in his mechanics, Chico offered perhaps his best performance of the season. In seven innings, the young left-hander allowed just four hits and one walk and made only one mistake: a 2-1 fastball to Rich Aurilia in the fifth that wound up in Section 445 of the upper deck.

Otherwise, the Nationals couldn’t have asked for more from Chico, who noted one big difference in his first start back in the majors.

“I was real relaxed,” he said. “It was probably the first time I’ve been relaxed coming into a game in a month or two.”

Chico was sent to Columbus to try to correct a flaw in his motion that has plagued him since college. He strides too far toward the plate, throwing off his balance and causing him to pitch across his body and get unwanted tailing movement on his fastball.

Chico had managed to overcome the flaw throughout his career, but signs of problems were beginning to show. He made the adjustments the last two weeks in the minors and hopes to continue seeing positive results over the next month.

“For me, it’s a new season,” he said. “I’ve never pitched past this point before, so I’m looking at it as a new season, a month to get ready for trying to get into the rotation next year.”

Chico’s highly effective afternoon on the mound gave the Nationals a chance to win late. Stymied for eight innings by Zito and reliever Tyler Walker — with only Nook Logan’s third-inning triple preventing them from being shut out — they sprung back to life in the ninth against Wilson.

Lopez got things going with a one-out double to left-center, bringing Zimmerman to the plate with yet another chance to be the hero.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy faced a tough decision: pitch to Zimmerman (whose success rate in this situations is well known) or intentionally walk him and take his chances with Dmitri Young (who is hitting .333 but had grounded into two double plays earlier in the game).

Bochy went after Zimmerman.

“I’m not going to second-guess him,” Acta said. “Because the guy on deck is hitting .335.”

Wilson, a flame-throwing 25-year-old, came right after Zimmerman with five straight fastballs that registered as high as 97 mph. Zimmerman fouled off the first, took a ball, then swung and missed at a high offering.

Upset at himself for chasing the pitch, he stepped out of the batter’s box and reminded himself how to approach the situation.

“Try not to get too excited and come out of your plan,” he said. “The biggest thing is, stay relaxed. The pressure’s on him.”

Zimmerman took two fastballs outside to run the count full, then dug in expecting another heater from Wilson. The young reliever surprised him with a slider low and away, but Zimmerman reacted with what he called “kind of an emergency hack.”

“I thought for sure he’s going to throw me another fastball,” he said. “I kind of just threw the bat out there. Good placement, I guess.”

The ball landed softly in shallow right field, and third-base coach Tim Tolman didn’t hesitate waving Lopez around. Randy Winn’s throw to the plate was a moment too late, and Lopez slid in ahead of Bengie Molina’s tag.

With that, the Nationals had another win, and Zimmerman had yet another game-winner to add to his resume.

“It’s not me,” he insisted. “It’s my teammates putting me up in that situation. I’m just the guy that comes up the next time.”