The number is 6! Rockies Take 3 from Nationals

We're rounding the turn into the home stretch, and these series have real drama.  The Nats came to town, and played a series where no game was ever "put away", 6 runs would always be enough, and bizarre things happened!  Here we go:

GAME 1

Nationals - 6

Rockies - 4

The start was promising, as the Rocks smacked 5 hits and plated 3 runs in the 2nd to go up 3-0.  But ex-Rockies Edmundo Sosa would kill that buzz when he hit a 2-out grand slam the very next inning!  Ouch.  The game would stay tight from there.  Down 6-4 in the 9th, the good guys would get two walks to start the inning, and then Tatis, who'd hit a solo homer in his last AB, would bounce into a 6-4-3 DP.  Sigh.  WEIRD HAPPENING - 3 of the first 4 rolls for the Nats were "5-4" - CATCHER X ball that would up in 2 groundouts and a foulout.

Starters - Mlodzinski and Ray

WP - Dreyer 

LP - Ray 

SV - Santillan 

HR - Sosa, Busch, Tatis

GAME 2

Nationals - 5

Rockies - 6 (11)

The Nats would put Blake Snell through a lot of stress, and throw up the classic "picket fence" of 1-run innings for the first 4 frames.  But the Rocks did not panic.  Trailing 4-2 in the 6th, we put the hurt on Scott Barlow and Jake Junis, notching 3 runs and grabbing a lead.  But it's never safe.  The Nats would use 3 singles in the 8th to tie it 5-5, and it would stay that way until the 11th.  The Rocks used ever reliever we had, but managed to escape a 2-on, one out situation.  Matt Olson came up to lead off the bottom of the frame.  Hits his 3-4....gets the split - GONE!  Olson had a great series - 9 hits total...including this huge one!

Starters - Sanchez and Snell

WP - Casparius 

LP - Romero 

HR - Rojas, Suzuki, Vargas, Olson

GAME 3

Nationals - 4

Rockies - 6

We've seen that score before, and we'll see it again.  This one seemed destined to go the other way.  The Rocks scored a run in the 1st, but then it was all Nats for 4 innings.  They'd pepper Jack Flaherty with hits, and eventually Jack would give up an RBI single to Suzuki and need to leave the game with shoulder discomfort! Nats up 4-1.  But the Rocks would get 2 runs in the 6th, and then have a clutch 2-out 8th inning...capped by a Luis Garcia 2-run tater that ended up being the game winner!

Starters - Lodolo  and Flaherty

WP - Mejia 

LP - Barlow 

SV - Pagan 

HR - Garcia

GAME 4

Nationals - 4

Rockies - 6

Rocks put up another big early inning, going up 4-0 in the 2nd frame thanks to 5 hits and a Caleb Durbin 3-run homer.  Nick Pivetta faced his old team and struggled.  He danced around baserunners until the 5th, when the Nats would use four hits of their own, including two bombs, to tie it 4-4.  But the boys in purple would keep hitting, and we'd get single runs in the 6th and 7th.  And, for a change, the pen would hold up just fine. Series win!

Starters - Burrows and Pivetta

WP - Pivetta 

LP - Dreyer 

SV - Pagan 

HR - Hoskins, Suzuki, Durbin

The Rocks emerge 40-32.  We'll wait for a couple of weeks for people to catch up and then hopefully drive this truck to the playoffs!   Nats fall to 34-34...it's a challenging time but the Nats are a tough team!