Washington Nationals’ lineup for series finale with Colorado Rockies: Nats aim for series split...

Matt Wieters was 1 for 11 on the season and 0 for 4 since coming off a DL stint for an oblique issue when he stepped to the plate with two down in the fourth inning on Saturday and hit a two-out solo shot to center field in Nationals Park to get Washington on the board.

With the score still 2-1 Rockies in the sixth, Wieters drove in another run off Colorado starter Jon Gray, lining an RBI single to left field to spark a four-run rally that lifted the Nationals to a lead they didn’t relinquish in what ended up a 6-2 win that snapped a three-game slide.

Nats’ skipper Davey Martinez was happy to see the veteran catcher connect for big hits and contribute to the Nationals’ cause in just their third win in the last eleven games.

“He’s a big part of what we do here,” Martinez said.

“He handles the pitchers well. If we can get him going offensively and he stays the way he stays, he’s going to have a big year for us.”

Wieters went 2 for 4 on the day on Saturday, and the Nationals as a team connected for 12 hits overall, going 4 for 11 with runners in scoring position to support Max Scherzer’s solid outing after they’d scored two runs or less in six of the previous ten games.

“It was good,” Martinez said.

“You know what I liked about the at bats?” he asked rhetorically.

“They started using the whole field, and that’s encouraging. They started doing that, and putting the balls in play, good things happen. And they played really well, all around good baseball.”

The Nationals even pulled off a squeeze in the sixth. Michael A. Taylor dropped a bunt toward first with Bryce Harper and Wieters on third and first base, respectively. Taylor got it down, and Harper charged down the third base line and slid in under the tag, though it took an extended look at the replay before the umpires reversed the original call that he was out at the plate.

“We put a safety squeeze on and it worked,” Martinez said.

“And I was very surprised — well not surprised, because Ian [Desmond] is a good defender, but he got to that ball so quick, I mean it was a perfect bunt and he made it a lot closer, and [Harper] had an unbelievable slide to get home, kept his foot down, and it was good. Like I said, the boys played all around good baseball today.”

Will they do so again today, as they try to earn a split of the four-game set with the Rockies?

HERE’S WASHINGTON’S LINEUP FOR THE SERIES FINALE WITH COLORADO:

NOTES: No Anthony Rendon (right toe) again, and no Brian Goodwin (left wrist), but a similarly makeshift lineup beat the Rockies yesterday. Also worth noting, with Stephen Strasburg on the hill, the weather forecast is not promising, with a 40% chance rain predicted at around 2:00 PM and expected to continue throughout the evening. Bring an umbrella if you’re going to the game.