Nationals 7, Rockies 3: Rox unable to overcome early deficit

They have now lost 13 of their last 17 games

After losing in heartbreaking fashion to the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday, the Rockies dropped Game 1 against the Nationals tonight. Patrick Corbin earned his first win of the season, but the Rockies have lost 13 of their last 17.

A solid Márq

Germán Márquez was solid in tonight’s game. After a rough start (more on that later), the righty settled in. He ended up pitching six innings and allowing five runs on six hits. However, he walked more (3) than he struck out (2). Márquez threw 104 pitches (31 in the first inning), 60 for strikes. His 6.30 ERA is now second-highest among qualified MLB starters.

A rough start

Speaking of rough starts, it wasn’t a good one for the Rox. After a leadoff walk to Cesar Hernández to start the game, Keibert Ruiz singled to knock him over. Juan Soto lined out for the first out of the inning, but three straight hits (two doubles) by Nelson Cruz, Josh Bell and Yadiel Hernández scored four runs. Then Maikel Franco walked, but Márquez then induced back-to-back groundouts to put the Rockies out of their misery. The would come back in the second and third to make it 4-3, but Cesar Hernández doubled in the fourth to put the Nats up an extra run. Bell would score the sixth run on a sac fly in the seventh.

Shaky defense on both sides

Defense has not been the Rockies’ friend this season. Ryan McMahon alone has committed nine errors — he had seven all of last year. An error in the ninth let Soto get on base.

But the Nats also had shaky defense at times. There were some miscues in the fifth by Franco and Bell, but only Bell recorded the error. Soto overran a ball in the third, but that gave Charlie Blackmon his 53rd career triple — tied with Dexter Fowler for most in a Rockies uniform.

Dee Strange-Gordon also had a rough go at shortstop, including an error in the ninth. The Rockies have been having a rough time on defense lately, and they need to find a way to turn it around soon.

Streaking!

Some good news, though, is that Brendan Rodgers continued his 13-game hitting streak with a double in the second inning. Yonathan Daza broke his 12-gamer a few days ago, but he has back-to-back days with multiple hits. Connor Joe has also reached base in 23 consecutive games.

So there are indeed some bright spots during this abysmal stretch.

Up Next

The Rockies play the second game of the four-game set tomorrow. Austin Gomber will pitch against Aaron Sanchez. First pitch is at 5:05 p.m. MT. See you there!