Rockies hit three homers to outlast Nats in a slugfest
DENVER — Garrett Hampson and Brendan Rodgers each hit their first home runs of the season — both three-run shots — for the Colorado Rockies in a 9-7 win over the Washington Nationals on Thursday.
Randal Grichuk also homered for the Rockies, who took two of three in the series. Daniel Bard got three outs for his eighth save in nine chances. He has had six consecutive scoreless outings.
Washington outhit the Rockies 15-10, and Juan Soto and Keibert Ruiz had solo home runs. Maikel Franco added three hits, including an RBI double.
Down 2-0, the Rockies went off on Aaron Sanchez (1-2) for a four-run second inning, ignited by successive doubles from Ryan McMahon and Rodgers. Sam Hilliard reached on a fielding error by shortstop Alcides Escobar, his third error in two days, and Hampson followed with a drive into the left-field bleachers.
Washington had the makings of a big inning in the top of the fifth when César Hernández singled, Soto walked and Josh Bell doubled in a run. But catcher Dom Nunez picked Soto off at third for the first out, and after a single by Yadiel Hernandez, Jhoulys Chacin (3-1) came on and got Franco to ground into an inning-ending double play.
C.J. Cron’s one-out RBI single in the bottom of the fifth chased Sanchez. One out later, Rodgers drove a 1-2 offering from Josh Rogers over the center-field fence to boost Colorado’s lead to 8-3.
Ruiz homered to lead off the sixth and Franco and Ruiz had RBI doubles in the seventh as Washington closed to within two runs before Grichuk’s solo shot off Kyle Finnegan in the bottom of the seventh.
Orioles 9, Twins 4: Cedric Mullins and Ramón Urías each hit a two-run homer during Baltimore’s six-run third inning, and the Orioles went on to a convincing victory.
The first-place Twins lost for just the second time in 13 games. Dylan Bundy (3-2) allowed nine runs and 11 hits in 3 ⅔ innings against his former team.
Carlos Correa homered for Minnesota.
Kyle Bradish, traded for Bundy in 2019, gave up four runs and six hits in four innings, but the Baltimore bullpen was solid the rest of the way. Cionel Pérez (1-0) went two innings to earn the win.
Trey Mancini had three infield singles for the Orioles. On two of them, he ended up on second because of throwing errors when Twins infielders rushed to try to get him at first.
While Minnesota was having a shoddy night defensively, Baltimore’s infield turned five double plays in the first seven innings.
Rockies 5, Nationals 2: Jose Iglesias had a two-run double and Connor Joe a two-run triple in consecutive at-bats in the fourth inning after a crucial error by shortstop Alcides Escobar, and Colorado rallied for a victory in Denver.
Charlie Blackmon added an RBI groundout in the five-run inning, while Austin Gomber (2-2) pitched 6 ⅔ strong innings in the Rockies’ fourth win in five games.
Lane Thomas hit his first homer and Cesar Hernandez went 2 for 4 with an RBI to extend his hitting streak to 10 games for the Nationals, who committed three errors. Escobar also struck out three times and Washington hit into four double plays as its two-game winning streak was stopped.