Yes, Jordan Zimmermann's performance for the Nationals Friday night got lost in the excitement provided by Willie Harris and Adam Dunn, but I felt it deserved another look.

Zimmermann picked up his first win since returning from Tommy John surgery August 26, going five innings and allowing just one run (a solo shot by Omar Infante in the fifth) on three Atlanta hits.

"I thought tonight was the best he's thrown," Nationals manager Jim Riggleman said Friday night. "He threw hard. He used his breaking ball well. He had his offspeed stuff going right away. Sometimes it's taken him a while to get it."

As it turns out, the charts bear out Riggleman's analysis.

But before we get to that, here's a breakdown of the number and type of pitches thrown in Zimmermann's four starts prior to last night, with data courtesy of Brooks Baseball's pfx tool:

8/31 at FLA (No Decision, 6 shutout IP, 1 H, 9 Ks)

86 total pitches, 65 fastballs, 14 sliders, 6 curveballs, 1 changeup

9/6 vs. NYM (No Decision, 4 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 Ks)

77 total pitches, 54 fastballs, 11 curveballs, 8 sliders, 4 changeups

9/12 vs. FLA (Loss, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 2 HRs)

79 total pitches, 55 fastballs, 18 sliders, 6 curveballs

9/18 at PHI (Loss, 3 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 1 BB 3 Ks, 3HRs)

76 total pitches, 52 fastballs, 10 curveballs, 9 sliders, 4 changeups, 1 two-seam fastball.

As those charts show, Zimmermann has generally gotten into trouble by overusing his fastball and not locating his offspeed stuff (particularly his curveball and slider), which is why his outing from Friday night was so encouraging. He threw just 47 fastballs and a combined 35 curves and sliders, showing admirable balance.

"The curveball's been good for me all year," Zimmermann said Friday night. "The slider's slowly coming back. I needed a good start tonight."

Luckily for the Nationals, he gave them one.