*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
Coors field is known for being very homer friendly because of the altitude, and that's what happened again. Garrett Hampson homered, Brendan Rodgers homered, and the Colorado Rockies defeated the Washington Nationals with a 9-7 victory on Thursday afternoon in Denver.
The win gives the Rockies an even 5-5 record in their last 10 games, as they sit in 3rd place in the NL West thanks to being a few games over .500. The Rockies also recorded the series win on Thursday, thanks to 7 of their 9 runs coming on the long ball, and 4 RBI's coming from Rodgers.
Rodgers said of his success that "The adversity I went through before is similar to a slump, in a way. You’re pretty much useless when you’re on the bench, whether you’re not healthy or you’re not contributing. I don't want to say it, but I do feel good. I do feel like I’m figuring some stuff out. I’m staying in my legs, using the whole field."
Getting on the board first was the Nationals, with Juan Soto mashing a solo home run and Josh Bell scoring on an error in the first inning, making it 2-0 Nats. In the second inning, Rodgers got the Rockies on the board with an RBI double, and Hampson put them in the lead with a 3 run home run, making it a 4-2 Rockies lead.
In the 5th inning, Bell brought the Nats to a 4-3 deficit, whacking an RBI double to score Cesar Hernandez. In the bottom of the 5th, Charlie Blackmon scored on an RBI infield single from CJ Cron, and Rodgers blasted a 3 run home run to center field, making it an 8-3 game in favor of the Rockies.
In the 6th inning, Keibert Ruiz hit a solo homer to make it 8-4, getting the Nats closer. In the top of the 7th, RBI doubles from Ruiz and Maikel Franco cut the deficit to 8-6, before Randal Grichuk made it a 9-6 Rockies lead with a solo home run. In the 8th, Victor Robles scored on a groundout to make it a 9-7 game, but that was all for the Washington comeback attempt.
Hampson said of the win that "We got the crooked numbers, four runs in the second and four runs in the fifth. But every inning, it seemed like they had something going, so that’s just a credit to our bullpen especially and us on defense making the plays we needed to just kind of limit the big numbers which was in the end the difference in the game."
Getting the win for the Rockies was Jhoulys Chacin, allowing one run in 1 2/3 innings of relief. Antonio Senzatela got the start, lasting 4 1/3 innings on 3 runs and 7 hits. Robert Stephenson allowed two runs before Tyler Kinley had a shutout appearance, followed by one run from Alex Colome and the save by Daniel Bard, his 8th of the season.
Aaron Sanchez got the loss for the Nationals after getting hit hard. Sanchez allowed 7 runs on 6 hits and two walks, lasting just 4 1/3 innings. Josh Rogers and Kyle Finnegan each allowed a run in their outings, before Austin Voth and Steve Cishek had shutout appearances.
Asked about his approach at the plate in Denver, Soto said that "It’s a big ballpark and the balls fly. It keeps everybody on their toes. That’s why you always see five at-bats per day instead of two or three. For me, right now, I’m just trying to keep my confidence up and make sure to swing at strikes."
Up next, the Rockies head to Phoenix to face the Arizona Diamondbacks, with Chad Kuhl to get the Friday night start. Joan Adon gets the start for the Nationals as they head west to face the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.
Comments
Post a Comment