LeMahieu trumps Nats in DC

Chad Bettis impressed and DJ LeMahieu recorded his 10th career four-hit game to carry the load as the Colorado Rockies bested the Washington Nationals in Nationals Park Thursday night, the first game in a four-game series and seven-game road trip.

The Rockies had a tall order as they tried to return to .500 on the season, against the heavy National League favorites led by the streaking Bryce Harper.

Coming in against a red-hot Gio Gonzalez, who came into the game with a 1.59 ERA, there were questions about the offensive output they Rockies would produce sans Charlie Blackmon, who is still day-to-day with a sore leg, leaving LeMahieu to fill the void at the top of the lineup.

The second baseman who is known—and often either loved or hated—for being a “singles hitter” began the contest with an impression of his good friend who has now missed four of the last five games.

And he wasn’t done there. It was just the beginning of his second consecutive three-hit game and he would homer twice and drive in four runs.

Bettis earned his first quality start of the season, going seven innings and yielding only three hits. The only run to score on him came on a solo home run by Howie Kendrick, who otherwise went hitless against the 28-year-old. Bettis notched 5 strikeouts, including two of Harper, who came into the game reaching base 50 percent of the time, but o’fered tonight.

It was arguably the best start of the season for Colorado.

LeMahieu set the tone immediately, taking Gonzalez over the left field wall and into the Rockies bullpen on the third pitch of the game. Colorado seemed poised for more, with Chris Iannetta following up with a walk and Nolan Arenado driving a ball to the right-center gap that was just run down by center fielder Michael Taylor.

But, following a Trevor Story strikeout, it would take help from Nationals second baseman to pad the lead. He chased an Ian Desmond pop into shallow right field, executing a last-ditch effort half-dive, watching it fall just beside his glove and allowing Iannetta to score and Desmond to reach second. It was officially scored an RBI double for Desmond in his debut in Nationals Park since he left the team in 2016, but was quickly changed to an error on Kendrick.

LeMahieu tallied another RBI in the very next inning, this time with a patented push hit into the right-field corner. Harper mishandled the pickup, allowing Gerardo Parra to score from first, giving the Rockies a 3-0 lead in the second inning.

On the other side of the ball, Chad Bettis came out hot, striking out Trea Turner to start the game and facing the minimum through four, thanks to a double play in the second to eliminate a Matt Adams single.

The Rockies blew an opportunity to add to their lead in the top of the fifth, after Iannetta drew another walk and Arenado lined a double past the glove of third baseman Anthony Rendon. With two runners in scoring position and nobody out, Trevor Story struck out, Iannetta was caught in a rundown trying to score on a weak ground ball, and Carlos Gonzalez grounded out to first to end the inning.

Even without scoring, the Rockies chased Gio Gonzalez after five innings, after throwing 106 pitches in what was indisputably his worst start on the still young season.

But, the Nationals would take the turn in momentum in the bottom of the frame. After Bettis recorded a quick two outs, Kendrick redeemed his fielding blunder with a home run over the center field wall on a changeup that caught too much of the center of the plate, making the score 3-1. Bettis then walked the next hitter, Matt Wieters, who advanced to third on a double by pinch hitter Moises Sierra, putting the tying run in scoring position. But, Bettis smothered the threat, inducing a weak grounder to Arenado to end the frame.

Further filling the role of the absent Blackmon, LeMahieu turned around a 90 mph sinker in the sixth for his second home run on the day, giving him four RBI from the leadoff spot, and the Rockies a 5-1 lead. He would add one more double in the ninth for good measure, but was stranded on third.

Bettis, working efficiently all night, entered the seventh inning with 71 pitches. But, he walked Ryan Zimmerman after a 10-pitch battle to start the frame, the first time he allowed the leadoff hitter to reach on the night. He then struck out Adams on five pitches and got Kendrick to ground into a double play on eight pitches, running his count up to 94 despite facing only three batters in the inning, ending his night after seven frames of one-run baseball.

Bryan Shaw took over in the eighth, recording a strikeout and pair of ground outs around a Taylor single to put up a zero. Jake McGee handled the ninth, downing Rendon, Harper and Zimmerman to end the game.

Final: Rockies 5, Nationals 1. The Rockies return to .500 at 7-7.

Final stats

Rockies

Chad Bettis: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R (ER), 2 BB, 5 K

DJ LeMahieu: 4-for-5, 2 HR, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 2 R

Chris Iannetta: 1-for-3, R, 2 BB

Gerardo Parra: 2-for-4, 2 R

Trevor Story: 0-for-5, 4 K, 5 LOB

Nationals 

Gio Gonzalez: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 7 K

Bryce Harper: 0-for-4, 3 K

Howie Kendrick: 1-for-3, HR, E

What’s next

The Rockies return to action in the nation’s capitol tomorrow, looking for another win over the Nationals and a clinch of at least a series tie. Kyle Freeland seeks to turn in another quality start on the heels of Bettis’s strong outing, and hopes to get some help from the offense against Nationals starter Tanner Roark, who owns a 4.50 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in two starts this season. Roark is striking out more than a batter an inning, which could prove problematic to the K-prone Rockies. First pitch is 5:05 Mountain Time.