The Rockies split a doubleheader with the Nationals on Saturday, with their pitchers getting blasted in Game 1 before Chad Kuhl salvaged the day with a quality start in Game 2.
Washington thumped Colorado, 13-7, in the first game as Colorado pitchers were blistered for 14 hits, including two home runs. But Kuhl delivered in the afternoon in a 3-2 victory and Jose Iglesias had the game-winning RBI single in the seventh inning.
After the Rockies handed out seven walks and hit a batter in Game 1, Kuhl allowed seven hits and walked just one over six-plus innings, with seven strikeouts. The right-hander improved to 4-2, and despite being in the rotation’s fifth slot, has been Colorado’s most dependable starter.
Still, despite winning Game 2, the Rockies continue to slide.
Left-hander Austin Gomber had his second-worst start in a Rockies uniform in Game 1. Staked with a 3-0 lead by C.J. Cron’s three-run, first-inning home run, Gomber promptly gave up five runs on six hits in the bottom of the frame. Gomber lasted only 1 1/3 innings and was charged with eight runs on seven hits as his ERA soared from 4.11 to 5.51.
“I didn’t really command anything and everything they hit kind of found a hole,” Gomber told the media after the game. “It just wasn’t my day. I was in bad counts pretty much the whole time I was in there. And it was pretty uncharacteristic with the walks … That’s not really how I pitch. We’ll just wipe it and be ready to go next time out.”
Said manager Bud Black: “Fastball command is a big part of his game and he just couldn’t get that pitch going. And his slider is also a big pitch for him and he couldn’t get that going, either.”
Long reliever Ashton Goudeau didn’t fare much better in the loss: three runs on four hits over 2 2/3 innings. His two walks in the fourth set the table for Victor Robles’ three-run homer that gave Washington an 11-7 lead.
The Rockies received a 3-for-5 day from Charlie Blackmon in the first game and Blackmon also contributed an RBI single in the second game.
Robles went 3 for 4 in the Nationals’ Game 1 rout and drove in a career-high six runs, and Riley Adams’ two-run homer off Robert Stephenson in the eighth completed the Nationals’ field day at the plate. The Nationals were 8 for 15 with runners in scoring position in Game 1, but 1 for 16 in that scenario in Game 2.
Closer Daniel Bard nailed down the victory in Game 2 with a 1-2-3 ninth.
