Tanner Roark looked like he might be impervious to altitude through four scoreless in Coors Field tonight, but the right-hander ran into trouble in the Colorado fifth, giving up a single and three consecutive walks that got the Rockies on the board.
Roark got up to 41 pitches in the fifth inning, and 104 overall, giving up a second run on a bases-loaded grounder to second, but he left the game with a 5-2 lead over the Rockies, and the Washington Nationals eventually won, 11-4.
Adam Eaton drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the Nationals’ second.
Trea Turner and Ryan Zimmerman homered in the fifth inning, Turner’s a solo shot and Zimmerman’s a two-out opposite field blast, and the Nationals took the third game of the four-game set in Denver, adding four more on an RBI line drive by Zimmerman and a three-run blast by Daniel Murphy in the seventh and another two on an RBI double by Turner and RBI single by Bryce Harper in the top of the eighth to improve to 15-6 on the season and 8-1 through nine games on the current road trip, which wraps up tomorrow with a 3:10 PM EDT game in Denver.
Nationals now 15-6
Here’s how it happened:
• Tyler Chatwood was one strike away from working out of a two-on, two-out jam in the top of the second, but he walked Tanner Roark after starting 0-2 against the Nats’ pitcher and put him on, loading the bases in front of Adam Eaton, who hit a two-run single to right to make it 2-0 Nationals early.
• Bryce Harper singled to start the third inning and took third base on single to left by Ryan Zimmerman when Gerardo Parra misplayed the ball while looking to make a quick throw in to third.
Harper got thrown out at home, however, trying to score on a Daniel Murphy grounder to short when Trevor Story threw home to get Harper by a mile. Anthony Rendon sent a grounder to third in the next at bat to start an inning-and-rally-ending 5-4-3.
• Tanner Roark gave up back-to-back, one-out singles in the Rockies’ third, but battled DJ LeMahieu for 11 pitches before inducing a grounder to short that started an inning-ending 6-3 DP.
• Trea Turner put the Nationals up 3-0 with a solo home run in the fifth, taking a 1-0 fastball from Tyler Chatwood to center field for his second home run of the season and second in two games.
When you take the long way home. #Crushed pic.twitter.com/AsoJqXEM6x
— MLB (@MLB) April 27, 2017
• Bryce Harper walked in the at bat after Turner’s blast and scored on an opposite field home run to right by Ryan Zimmerman, who connected for his eighth home run of the season on a 95 mph 2-1 fastball outside he powered out to right. 5-0.
One inning. Two jacks.
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) April 27, 2017
Trea : https://t.co/91TfFAVGgN
Zim : https://t.co/HDH6gyeZGh pic.twitter.com/rV5eOEtQKJ
• Tyler Chatwood’s Line: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER 3 BB, 4 Ks, 2 HRs, 89 P, 51 S, 8/0 GO/FO.
• A single by Tony Wolters and a nine-pitch walk by pinch hitter Cristhian Adames put runners on first and second with one out in the Rockies’ fifth and Charlie Blackmon walked on four pitches to load’em up with one out for DJ LeMahieu, who worked the count full and walked to force in a run, 5-1.
The second run of the inning scored on a grounder to second, when the Nationals got a force at second, but no double play, 5-2, and Roark struck Carlos Gonzalez out on a 2-2 slider to end a 41-pitch frame.
• Tanner Roark’s Line: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 Ks, 104 P, 62 S, 6/1 GO/FO.
• Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman hit back-to-back-to-back singles off lefty Chris Rusin in the seventh with Zim’s driving Turner in, 6-2.
Daniel Murphy stepped up next and hit a 1-0 slider into the second deck in right for a three-run blast that made it 9-2 Nationals. Murphy’s fourth.
• Adam Eaton reached on an error and scored on an RBI double to left-center by Trea Turner, 10-2 in the eight, and Turner scored on Harper’s 4th hit of the night (4 for 4, BB), 11-2.
• Carlos Gonzalez walked and scored on an RBI double off Blake Treinen by Gerardo Parra in the Nats’ right-hander’s second inning of work in the eighth, 11-3.
Alexi Amarista drove Parra in with an RBI single off Matt Grace, who finished off the eighth, 11-4.
NATIONALS PREGAME NOTES:
- With two games left, the Nationals are 7-1 on the current ten-game road trip, and Dusty Baker’s team could post the best 10+ game road trip winning percentage in team history (2005-present).
- The previous best was a 9-2 mark (.818 winning percentage) on an 11-game road trip in 2014.
- In today’s “Fun with Arbitrary End Points” segment: Colorado holds a 49-34 advantage in the all-time series between the two teams, but Washington has a 15-12 record against the Rockies since 2013.
- Trea Turner’s cycle last night was the third in franchise history (2005-present), but Nats’ bench coach Chris Speier hit for the cycle as a Montreal Expo in 1978.
- Turner also became the eighth player in MLB history to drive in seven or more runs in a game while hitting for the cycle.
- Turner is also the second-youngest to accomplish that feat, behind only Joe DiMaggio, who hit for the cycle and drove in seven against the Washington Senators as a 22-year-old in 1937.
- Bryce Harper was 13 for 25 (.520 AVG) with five doubles, three homers, eight walks and 12 runs scored eight games into the Nats’ ten-game road trip heading into tonight’s matchup in Coors Field. He went 4 for 4 with a walk tonight. Do the maths...
Nationals now 15-6.