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Jacob Turner filled in for Stephen Strasburg with a solid six-inning outing against the Colorado Rockies, and left the series opener in Coors Field with a 4-3 lead after Nolan Arenado tripled with one down and Mark Reynolds homered with two out in Turner’s final inning of work.
Washington’s bullpen surrendered the lead when Enny Romero gave up two hits, one a two-run home run by Charlie Blackmon on an 0-1 slider in the seventh, and the Rockies hit five straight singles off Blake Treinen and blew things open with a three-run eighth inning that put them ahead 8-4.
“[Turner] gave us all we needed,” Dusty Baker told reporters after the loss.
“We were hoping that he would take us into the seventh hopefully and then we could piece the eighth and ninth, but they beat us the eighth and ninth. That’s when they scored those decisive runs against us and that’s what we’ve been doing.
“We talk about winning the seventh, eighth, and ninth if necessary, but they won it tonight. They got some big hits.
“They got some real big hits, none probably larger than Reynolds got that — I think it was two outs when he hit the homer — and then Charlie Blackmon hit his homer.”
“These guys — we realize they’re tough here,” Baker continued, “but we’ve got to make a little better pitches. They weren’t bad, but you’ve got to give them a little credit for hitting them, but we’ve got to keep them in the ballpark.”
“That was a huge hit, Mark’s,” Bud Black added in his own post-game press conference.
“We’re down, 4-1, the momentum had swung their way and Mark with a big knock man, big homer. Good swing. And Turner was pitching great.”
With the score 4-3 after Reynold’s sixth home run of the season, Blackmon added his sixth after he’d gone 0 for 3 in his previous trips to the plate.
“Great swing,” Black said. “I thought Charlie even though he didn’t get any hits, he had some good swings all night, so I think it was just — I’m not going to say it was a matter of time, but he had good at bats.”
“[Romero] gave up a homer to a pretty good hitter in Charlie Blackmon,” Baker said.
The slider to Blackmon was low and inside, but the Rockies’ outfielder turned on it and hit it into the second deck in right.
“The hitters get paid just like our guys get paid,” Baker explained, “and every pitch isn’t always a bad pitch.”
We talked about Turner’s outing; the bullpen giving up the lead and more on Nats Nightly after the game:
AUDIO: #Nats Nightly reunion w/ @DNicholsSR on the #Nationals' 8-4 loss to the #Rockies; Enny, Blake, Zim + more: https://t.co/QSmq0ruuZE
— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) April 25, 2017