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On a cold Wednesday night at Coors Field, the Rockies uncorked a five-run inning and capitalized on a quality start from southpaw Austin Gomber in a 5-2 defeat of the Nationals.
Colorado bounced back in Game 2 against Washington after getting blown out in the series opener with ace German Marquez on the mound. Gomber allowed two runs on seven hits in six-plus innings, while Tyler Kinley held the lead and Daniel Bard earned his seventh save of the season.
“We want to get everybody (in the rotation) going well, and I think German’s next,” manager Bud Black said. “The strength of any team over a long, successful season is based on the starting pitching giving you a chance to win every night. Our guys are capable of that (as Gomber showed).”
Cesar Hernandez gave Washington the lead on an RBI single off Gomber in the third, but Colorado got to Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin in the fourth, partially thanks to shoddy defense. Corbin pitched a complete game, but was pegged with three earned runs and the loss.
Singles by Ryan McMahon and Brendan Rodgers started the Rockies’ surge, then after an error by shortstop Alcides Escobar, Jose Iglesias’ double over the head of Juan Soto in right field gave Colorado a 2-1 lead. Connor Joe’s two-RBI triple that followed made it 4-1, then Charlie Blackmon added on with an RBI groundout.
“They opened up the door for us, and (Iglesias) delivered with a big blow,” Black said. “And then Connor was right behind him with another big hit… We took advantage of a couple mistakes.”
David Zalubowski, The Associated Press
Colorado Rockies’ Connor Joe gestures to the dugout after reaching third base with a triple that brought in two runs in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Wednesday, May 4, 2022, in Denver.
The Nationals chipped away with Lane Thomas’ solo homer off Gomber the next inning, but they wouldn’t get any more from there. Washington grounded into four double-plays on the evening, in addition to three errors, two of which came on Escobar misplays.
“I wanted to go out there and have a shutdown inning after we had the big inning,” Gomber said. “Giving up a leadoff homer isn’t ideal, but being able to get the next three guys out, keep the pace of the game and get us back in the dugout was big. That was probably the biggest inning of the game for me.”
Kinley retired all four batters he faced after relieving Gomber, then Bard come on out of the bullpen to a light show — and a new walk-in song — to slam the door in a one-two-three ninth.
“That (light show) threw me back to 1975 and Ted Nugent and (Nugent performing the song) ‘Stranglehold’ live,” Black said. “I’m in on it.”
A sparse crowd of about 19,000 turned out for the snappy 2-hour, 18-minute game that was delayed 25 minutes by inclement weather. The series concludes with Thursday’s matinee, with first pitch scheduled for 1:10 p.m.
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