Zimmerman walking on air

WASHINGTON -- All of 21, Washington's Ryan Zimmerman quickly developed a reputation for being calm as can be, never allowing anything to rattle him.

Jammed by a fastball from Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang in the seventh inning yesterday, Zimmerman had one thought as he stepped to the plate with one out in the bottom of the ninth, his Nationals down a run: Let's hope he tries throwing that same pitch, because I'm ready for it.

Sure enough, with Yankees closer Mariano Rivera forced into a day off, Zimmerman drove Wang's 107th pitch of the day over the wall in left field for a game-winning, two-run homer. Having lifted Washington to a 3-2 victory over New York, his dad in the stands on Father's Day, Zimmerman morphed into a kid on a sandlot, raising a fist as he rounded first, then tossing off his batting helmet as he rounded third.

Zimmerman jumped into the bouncing crowd of teammates waiting at home plate, celebrating a second consecutive comeback win over the Yankees. He said he'd never done that before, at any level: ``No walkoff nothing -- single, anything."

``I looked pretty bad the at-bat before on that same pitch," the third baseman said. ``I figured I was going to look for that same pitch first pitch, and if he threw it, try and do some damage with it."

After getting mobbed, Zimmerman went to the dugout as the largest home crowd in Nationals history (45,157) kept cheering. Prodded by a few teammates, Zimmerman eventually stepped out of the dugout for a curtain call and tossed his batting gloves into the stands.

``I was glad to see him show some feelings there," manager Frank Robinson said of the stoic Zimmerman, the No. 4 overall pick in last year's amateur draft.

Zimmerman's 10th homer of the season followed pinch hitter Marlon Anderson's single off Wang (7-3), who was trying for his first career complete game on a day when the temperature was 89 at the start of the game.

``When the ball came out of my hand," Wang said of his final pitch, ``I felt bad."

Yankees manager Joe Torre left his starter in because his beleaguered bullpen worked 12 innings over the previous three days. Torre said before the game that Rivera wasn't available after pitching in the series' first two games. Rivera took the loss Saturday, charged with Washington's final two runs as the Nationals came back from a seven-run deficit.

``I never would second-guess Joe Torre. If it's up to me, I'd be pitching every day," said Rivera, who appeared three days in a row once this season, May 10-12. ``That's why he's the manager, and I'm just a player."

Jose Vidro nearly got to Wang in the eighth after two Nationals reached via walks. But Vidro's hard liner was caught on the run by left fielder Melky Cabrera.

That preserved New York's 2-1 lead from the top of the eighth, when Alex Rodriguez's double drove in the tiebreaking run off Gary Majewski.

Cabrera was walked leading off the eighth. Majewski (3-2) then struck out Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi -- both swinging at 94-mile-per-hour fastballs -- before Rodriguez came through.

After a five-game losing streak, the Nationals were feeling pretty good as they set out on a nine-game road trip starting tonight against the Red Sox.

``To go out on the road after two wins like we accomplished the last two ballgames, especially the way we won 'em, I don't know if we need the plane today to go to Boston," Robinson said. ``We could fly over there without a jet."