Rockies rake, run away from Nats for third-straight series win

The Colorado Rockies are now winners of three consecutive series’ after running away from the Washington Nationals on Wednesday afternoon.

The offense produced nine runs on 12 hits and kept the pressure on all day up and down the lineup.

The Nationals mounted a small rally late but the Rockies held on for a still-decisive 9-5 victory.

German Marquez was not his usual sharp self in the early going. In the second, he was bitten by some bad luck when a Matt Adams flare landed in just the right place in left field for him to get a hustle double. He recorded a couple of outs and had the eighth hitter in the Nats lineup, Jake Noll, who was an emergency callup, at the plate and he grooved a first-pitch fastball.

Noll pulled it just inside the line to put the first run on the board.

With two outs in the third, he again threw some centercut fastballs to some good young hitters, surrendering a single to Victor Robles and a line drive home run to Juan Soto that gave Washington a 3-0 lead.

But the Rockies stormed back against Anibal Sanchez in the bottom of the third.

Trevor Story got the rally started with a liner over Soto’s head in left that ended up as a triple.

Daniel Murphy, in his first game back from the IL and after singling for the Rockies first hit in the first inning, followed with a walk.

Nolan Arenado made sure the Rockies got at least one, hitting a high fly ball to centerfield that allowed Story to trot home with ease.

The Rockies then got their own bit of good fortune when David Dahl got jammed a bit but flared one into no-man’s land for a double. Ryan McMahon then worked an excellent at-bat, drawing a full-count walk to load the bases with two away.

That brought the hot hitting Raimel Tapia to the plate with a double under his belt already in th game. And he smacked another one, fooling Adam Eaton in right with the pace of the ball for a bases-clearing double that swung the score in favor of the Rockies at 4-3.

Colorado added a pair of runs in the fifth on a Charlie Blackmon solo homer to right, a double from Story, and a jam-shot single for Arenado.

After Marquez flirted with danger in the fourth – loading the bases after giving up a single to the pitcher and walking a guy on four straight but bouncing back to K Eaton – he locked in.

He gave up a couple of singles but nothing resembling a rally over the next three innings.

Scott Oberg came on in the eighth and worked a clean frame that featured a beautiful barehanded play from Arenado.

The Rockies added some insurance in the bottom half thanks in large part to wildness from Trevor Rosenthal.

He hit Blackmon, walked Story, uncorked a few wild pitches allowing a run to score and Story to reach third then gave up singles to Arenado and Dahl to make it a 9-3 game.

Colorado handed the suddenly wide lead to Harrison Musgrave. The young lefty gave up a trio of one-out singles to load the bases. He bounced back to strike out Soto on a fastball and the lowest outside edge of the zone but surrendered two-run single to Adams, forcing Bud Black to bring closer Wade Davis into the now 9-5 ballgame with two outs and runners at the corners.

Davis struck out Kurt Suzuki after a battle to end it, securing the win of the game and the series.