The Colorado Rockies came into this game having just ended their longest losing streak of the season by narrowly beating the Washington Nationals 3-1 on Tuesday
. A magnificent start from Tanner Gordon combined with a home run parade from the Rockies lineup made for a remarkable tone shift compared to just two days ago with the Rockies winning 13-1.
Gordon efficient and steady
After rejoining the rotation just last week, Gordon had his best outing of the season.
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When the game began, it did not seem like Gordon would last nearly as long as he did as Washington hitters came out of the gate with hard contact. In the first, Dylan Crews notched a triple into deep right field where he was stranded thanks to a groundout by Daylen Lile.
In the second, though, the Nationals got on the board with a leadoff home run from Andres Chaparro.
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For a brief moment it seemed like the Nationals had Gordon figured out, and he was in danger of a short outing.
Instead, he quietly got the next seven straight batters out to silence any thoughts of bringing the bullpen in early.
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In the bottom of the fourth, Chaparro would again get a hit, but was limited to a single this go around. Then came the play that could have thrown Gordon off of his rhythm and unraveled the entire outing.
With two outs, Cole Carrigg lost sight of what should have been an easy fly out from José Tena, and it instead turned into a double. Carrigg did not react quickly enough to communicate to Jake McCarthy, who was backing him up, that he could not see the ball and it ended up dropping between the two of them. Tena would end up on second base and the lead runner would advance to third.
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Carrigg was bailed out of the mistake by Gordon unflinchingly getting Nationals catcher Harry Ford to softly ground out to end the inning.
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He would go on to throw another three uneventful innings. When Zach Agnos replaced him before the eighth inning, Gordon had a sparkling line of only one run on six hits and no walks while striking out five.
After the game, Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer attributed Gordon's success on the night primarily to his early count approach: "It all starts with him getting ahead. He got ahead, and then 0-1 he was 14 out of 15 strikes, which is elite."
In the end, Gordon earned his first win of the season and allowed the bullpen to largely rest after a taxing five-reliever day on Tuesday.
Early trouble in the clutch
The early innings for the Rockies lineup were defined by getting players into scoring position and then failing to drive them in.
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McCarthy led off the first inning with a double and was followed by a TJ Rumfield walk and three soft contact outs. He would fail to score despite advancing to third on a stolen base.
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Ezequiel Tovar led off the third inning with a single that chased Nationals starter Matt Waldron. After he advanced to second on a groundout from McCarthy, both Carrigg and Hunter Goodman struck out to end the threat.
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The fourth inning again opened up with a runner in scoring position as Rumfield doubled. He would then be thrown out trying to advance on a fielders choice hit into by Willi Castro.
After the fourth, though, the Rockies lineup decided to put that frustration to bed and simply start hitting dingers.
When in doubt just hit it out
In the fifth inning, Connor Norby walked to lead off before being driven in when Troy Johnston took a cutter to right field.
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That was followed up by McCarthy reaching first on a hustle bunt and then scoring on a homer from Carrigg to left field.
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After a quiet sixth inning, the Rockies continued the home run parade in the seventh.
A couple of singles from Goodman and Rumfield followed by a rare Castro walk would load the bases against Nationals pitcher Luis Perales, who was making his Major League debut. Mickey Moniak struck out for the third time in the game before Connor Norby came to the plate and earned some grand slam taco's for Denver.
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For good measure, in the eighth Goodman crushed his 36th home run of the season to plate another two and bring the overall score to 10-1.
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That home run parade by Rockies hitters was enough for the Nationals. After a couple more walks they raised the white flag in the top of the eighth.
Position Player pitching shenanigans
While the Rockies went to Zach Agnos to close out the last two frames of this blowout the Nationals instead turned to utility infielder Jorbit Vivas to get the final four outs.
Vivas came in with two outs and two runners on base. His mid-40's looping eephus not only lacked velocity but also missed the strike zone. He allowed a couple of singles to Norby and Tovar but then managed to hit both Johnston and Moniak.
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Eventually, Carrigg mercifully flew out to center field to end the inning.
The ninth came around, and the Nationals stuck with Vivas. Amusingly, a two-out single from Ryan Ritter was the only additional baserunner Vivas would allow as Goodman flew out and both Rumfield, and Moniak grounded out.
Up Next
Tomorrow the Rockies will face off against the Nationals for the final time this season.
On the mound for the Rockies will be Gabriel Hughes facing Jake Irvin of the Nationals.
First pitch is scheduled for 11:05 AM MDT.
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