For over a month the Nationals could not lose a close ballgame even if they tried. And sometimes they did. But the law of averages almost always exacts a price in Major League Baseball. It is beginning to happen now at Nationals Park.
Todd Helton homered in the fourth inning and his simple ground ball in the fifth inning delivered the eventual game-winning run as the Colorado Rockies beat the Nationals 2-1 on Saturday night. Once 13-3 in games decided by one run after June 1, Washington has now lost three games in a row in that same fashion.
Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez (4-8, 4.14 ERA) has had his way with the Nats in recent starts. The 27-year-old entered the game with four runs allowed vs. Washington in his last three outings – 23 1/3 innings in all. That continued on Saturday with one run given up in eight innings. No one reached base against Jimenez through the first 4 1/3 innings until Michael Morse did so on a base hit to right.
“Right now we’re living and dying by the one-run game,” Nats shortstop Ian Desmond said. “It’s going to get going again. We’re playing good defense, our pitching is great. I think we found a new weapon in [starter-turned reliever Ross] Detwiler tonight. He came out of the pen for the first time and looked great … These one-run games are just flukes, one of those things. It’ll turn around for us.”
Colorado improved to 43-47. Washington fell one game below .500 at 45-46 with one contest remaining before Major League Baseball’s All-Star break. It hasn’t won since blowing an 8-0 lead to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday night.
The Rockies took the lead in the top of the fourth when Helton hit his 10th home run of the season. That leadoff blast was followed by a single and later two walks by Nats starter Jason Marquis (7-4, 4.05 ERA). He wiggled out of the jam by getting Jimenez to ground weakly to third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. But Colorado added another run in the fifth – though not before Laynce Nix and Desmond teamed up on a relay to catcher Jesus Flores that nailed Ryan Spilborghs at the plate. Mark Ellis – who had doubled – did advance to third on that throw and scored on Helton’s ground out to first.
Morse’s hit broke up the perfect game. Jayson Werth followed with a one-out walk. But the Rockies’ defense smothered the rally when a Jesus Flores grounder deep in the hole on the left side was expertly turned into a 6-4-3 double play by shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and Ellis. It didn’t seem like Jimenez needed the help. But Washington wasn’t conceding anything, either.
“[Jimenez] was pretty good tonight,” Nats second baseman Danny Espinosa said. “He’s a guy that throws real hard and got his breaking stuff over. He was kind of flipping it over, a big curve ball for strikes on the first pitch and going from there. But he’s hittable. He’s been touched before.”
And Washington did produce some chances late against Jimenez. Desmond’s triple in the sixth led to Washington’s lone run when pinch hitter Rick Ankiel grounded out to second. In the seventh the Nats wasted a one-out single by Nix. In the eighth – with Jimenez well over 100 pitches on the night – Desmond and Roger Bernadina both reached on infield singles. But Jimenez won a tough two-out battle with Espinosa, who finally popped out in foul territory down the left-field line on a 3-2 pitch to end the threat.
In the ninth, the Nats had runners at first and third with one out when Werth grounded into a 6-4-3 double play against Colorado closer Huston Street to end it. That brought out a chorus of boos for the struggling outfielder, who is now 6-for-36 in July with five walks and hasn’t had an extra-base hit since June 28.
Nats notes
» Washington left fielder Laynce Nix had two outfield assists in the same game for the first time in his career.
» Attendance at Saturday’s contest with the Colorado Rockies was 29,441 and included 558 canines whose owners were allowed to purchase tickets and bring their dog to the game for the team’s annual “Pups in the Park” promotion.
» Only Ian Desmond and Michael Morse produced a multi-hit game on Saturday against the Rockies.
