Zimmerman trying to get out of hitting slump

The month of June has not been a good one for Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. Entering Tuesday’s action against the Red Sox, Zimmerman is 14-for-69 [.217] with one home run and eight RBIs.

Even worse, Zimmerman went 0-for-15 against the Blue Jays this weekend.

Manager Manny Acta said on Sunday that Zimmerman looks lost at the plate and is chasing breaking ball on the outside part of the plate.

“He is going out of the zone a little bit and [swinging at] some breaking balls that he was handling when he was hot,” Acta said. “When he was going through that [30-game hitting  streak], he was just locked in.

“But he will be back into it. He works very hard with [hitting coach] Rick [Eckstein]. Right now, Ryan has to go one at-bat at a time and try not to put the slump away with one swing.”

Zimmerman seems to believe that he is not in a serious slump.”

“Three bad games out of how many? I think that’s what’s going on,” Zimmerman said. “It happens to everybody. I will enjoy the day off, I’ll come back and get back to it.”