Instant Analysis: Nats 7, Rockies 3
The Nationals got home runs from Andrés Chaparro, Jacob Young and CJ Abrams, then turned to their bullpen to close this one out
DENVER – Who would’ve thought the Nationals would win tonight’s series opener at Coors Field more on the strength of their pitching staff than their lineup? With the bullpen playing the starring role?
That’s exactly how they beat the Rockies tonight. Yes, they got home runs from Andrés Chaparro, Jacob Young and CJ Abrams. But more impressively, they got 4 2/3 hitless innings from the unlikely relief trio of Riley Cornelio, Matt Krook and Tom Cosgrove to make that offensive support hold up in the majors’ toughest pitchers’ park.
On an unseasonably hot, 95-degree evening, the ball figured to fly in the thin air. And three batters in, the Nats looked like they were fully prepped to take full advantage, with Chaparro staking them to a quick 3-0 lead on his third homer of the road trip. Turns out they had to work a little harder for it tonight.
Shut down by Rockies starter Kyle Freeland through the fifth inning, the Nationals found themselves knotted in a 3-3 game after Andrew Alvarez surrendered a bases-loaded double to Willi Castro in the third. But then Young rediscovered his power stroke from earlier this season and launched a 437-foot home run, his first since June 1. And then Abrams took reliever Antonio Senzatela deep in the seventh for his 22nd homer of the season, extending the lead to 6-3.
Now it was up to the Nationals bullpen to make that lead hold up at Coors Field. Cornelio and Krook did their parts, combining for 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Alvarez. Cosgrove then retired the side in the eighth on a scant five pitches, giving himself the opportunity to return for the ninth to finish it off. Which he did, again on a scant five pitches, to record his first career save.
HITTING HIGHLIGHT: Reports of Chaparro’s demise may have been premature. The Nationals stuck with the slumping first baseman, whose OPS had fallen to .544 at the end of June. He has since gone 9-for-20 with four homers and 13 RBI, capped by tonight’s first-inning blast to set the tone. Just like that, Chaparro has raised his OPS to .792.
PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: With his starter struggling with command, and with the Rockies’ best hitter coming up to bat in the fifth, Blake Butera decided to pull Alvarez and summon Cornelio to face Hunter Goodman in what was then a 3-3 game. And Cornelio responded with a double-play grounder to end the inning. The rookie right-hander returned to pitch the sixth as well, and though he issued back-to-back, one-out walks, he responded by retiring the next two batters to leave them stranded and preserve what had since become a 4-3 lead. It’s still a very small sample, but Cornelio has looked better in his last few outings, perhaps feeling more confident to get himself out of a jam than he was when he first came up from Triple-A.
NOTABLE: Both benches and bullpens emptied in the top of the fifth when Freeland appeared to take issue with Chaparro’s path back to the dugout after flying out to center. Chaparro, who was in between first and second base when the ball was caught, took a seemingly straight line to the third-base dugout, jogging just to the side of the pitcher’s mound. Freeland barked at him, so Chaparro barked back. Both benches emptied, then both bullpens emptied. Nothing ever actually materialized, though, aside from Nationals reliever Justin Lawrence (who used to pitch for the Rockies) pretending to put a former teammate in a headlock while laughing.
UP NEXT: Miles Mikolas is scheduled to return from his five-game suspension to start Tuesday’s 8:40 p.m. game here. Veteran right-hander Michael Lorenzen starts for Colorado. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM
With Mikolas due up tomorrow this was an opportune time to find a way to win. And has been said already - many contributors at bat and on the mound. But just saw the postgame interview with Cornelio who was probably a little camera shy but couldn’t have been more grateful to use his time in front of the camera to acknowledge his close friends, family, and especially Father who have supported him and were there to see him get his first MLB win. Most of the time we don’t know much about the low profile players who are hanging on to a short window of opportunity to show they can contribute. It was so nice to see that moment and what it meant to him.
Suddenly the Marlins have lost seven in a row and the Nats are just a game behind them, not to mention a game-and-a-half out of the wild card.