Colorado Rockies Win Series In Washington, Defeat Nationals 6-4 On Sunday

Aug 9, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Colorado Rockies right fielder C. Gonzalez (5) jogs around the bases after hitting a home run in the 1st inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals met in their final game of the three-game set at Nationals Park in DC on Sunday afternoon.

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The Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals combined for six solo home runs, but the Rox outlasted the home club in the slugfest, scoring two runs in the top of the eighth inning to give the visiting club a series win and a 6-4 victory on Sunday afternoon at Nationals Park.

The game started off with a flurry of solo home runs from both the Rockies and Nationals, as neither Rockies’ starter Yohan Flande, nor Nationals’ starter Max Scherzer were putting very many men on base — but the ball was sure carrying out of the ballpark.

The Rockies got on the board first when Carlos Gonzalez smashed a solo home run in the top of the first inning off Scherzer.

However, the Nationals got two runs right back to take a lead in the bottom of the second inning, when Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth hit back-to-back solo home runs off Flande.

In the bottom of the third, Zimmerman added another solo shot off the Rockies’ starter, and the Nationals took a 3-1 lead to that point, though the Rockies were far from finished.

The Rox got another solo homer in the top of the fourth off the bat of Daniel Descalso to make the game 3-2. The score would stay like that until the sixth, by which point Yohan Flande had left the game, tossing 4.2 innings and allowing just the three solo home runs, with no walks, while striking out 2 and raising his ERA to just 3.86.

The Rockies put up two more runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 4-3 lead, and save Flande from being on the hook for the loss. First, Carlos Gonzalez hit another solo homer — this one, a second-deck moon shot that was never in doubt about going out, and which made the game 3-3.

Then, later in the inning, after Ben Paulsen doubled and the Nats intentionally walked Descalso, Kyle Parker hit an RBI single to score Paulsen and give the Rockies a 4-3 lead.

The lead wouldn’t hold, though, as the Nationals got another run in the bottom of the sixth inning when, with Werth on third, Michael Taylor hit a slow ground ball off Rafael Betancourt towards Nolan Arenado. Arenado tried to throw him to cut down Werth, but the ball hit Werth in the baseline and the Nationals crawled back into a 4-4 tie through six full innings.

The Nationals nearly scored int he bottom of the seventh inning, but CarGo threw out Anthony Rendon at home plate on a single by Zimmerman, preserving the tie for the Rockies.

The Rockies were able to break that tie in the top of the eighth — just as they had Friday night, against Nats’ reliever Drew Storen — when DJ LeMahieu knocked in two runs on a bases loaded single to give the Rockies a 6-4 lead.

After John Axford threw a scoreless bottom of the eighth inning, and the Rockies were held to nothing in the top of the ninth, Tommy Kahnle came on for the bottom of the ninth inning to try and nail down his second save.

Things got scary for Kahnle, who loaded the bases with one out, but he induced a strikeout from Werth and a groundout from Ian Desmond to wrap up the game — and the series — for the Rockies.

The Rockies head on to New York City, where they will play four games against the Mets this week before returning to Denver for a home series against the San Diego Padres next weekend.

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