|
 The first baseman's three-run shot in the seventh off Rex
Brothers broke a 4-4 tie and gave the Nationals a 7-4 win over the
Colorado Rockies, who lost their seventh consecutive game. However,
the Nationals' fourth straight win and sixth in the past seven games
might have been costly.
Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman strained his right hamstring while
running hard to first to avoid a double play in the sixth. He
reached for the hamstring just before getting to first, and he left
the game.
Zimmerman will undergo an MRI exam Wednesday morning. He missed 44
games with a broken right thumb before returning June 3.
The Nationals are 33-19 with Zimmerman in the lineup, averaging 4.9
runs per game. Without him, they are 22-24 and averaging 3.5 runs
per game. In his past 17 games, Zimmerman is .387 (24-for-62) with
two homers and 17 RBIs.
"The guy is just coming back from the DL and getting his swing back,
and you hate to see that," LaRoche said. "So we'll cross our fingers
it's nothing major."
Brothers was brought in to face the left-handed-hitting LaRoche, who
had not hit a home run in 80 at-bats against left-handers this
season and was batting .238 (19-for-80) against southpaws.
However, Brothers has been nowhere near as effective against
left-handers this season as he was in 2013, when he held them to a
.162 average with no homers in 74 at-bats. Left-handed hitters were
batting .270 against Brothers this year with two homers in 63
at-bats before Tuesday.
LaRoche drove a 2-0 fastball to right-center for his 13th homer of
the season. Asked what he was trying to do in that situation,
LaRoche said, "I was trying to make contact. The way things are
going, you swing hard enough, you're bound to run into something."
Brothers said he was trying to throw a fastball down and away but
instead threw it on the inner third of the plate.
"Obviously, it wasn't the results I wanted tonight, and I didn't do
many things right," said Brothers, who has a 4.46 ERA in 49 games.
"But I'll never back away from it ever or make an excuse either."
Brothers relieved Brooks Brown (0-1), who was charged with two of
the runs LaRoche drove in.
The Nationals (55-43) are a season-high 12 games over .500 and hold
a two-game lead in the National League East over the Atlanta Braves,
who lost Tuesday.
The Rockies built an early 3-0 lead against starter Jordan
Zimmermann, who was lifted for a pinch hitter in the sixth with the
bases loaded, two runs home, two outs and the game tied at 4. Nate
McLouth, the pinch hitter, grounded out.
Zimmermann made his first start since July 11 at Philadelphia, when
a right biceps strain forced him to leave after 3 1/3 innings. He
threw 76 pitches Tuesday and said his arm felt fine but he had
trouble locating his fastball.
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"The command was way off because of the days off," he said. "I'd
get two strikes and miss over the middle. It seemed to be a double
or a triple every time."
Zimmermann allowed four runs on eight hits, six for extra bases --
two doubles, two triples and third baseman Nolan Arenado's two-run
homer in the third and left fielder Corey Dickerson's solo shot in
the fifth.
Craig Stammen (1-4), the first of four Nationals relievers who each
pitched a scoreless inning, recorded the win. Rafael Soriano earned
his 23rd save.
Making his fourth career start and beginning his second stint with
the Rockies this season, Yohan Flande worked 5 1/3 innings before
Chad Bettis relieved him with runners on first and third and the
Rockies leading 4-2.
Zimmerman grounded into a run-scoring force play and was lifted for
pinch runner Danny Espinosa, who dashed to third on left fielder
Bryce Harper's single.
Bettis hit shortstop Ian Desmond with an 0-2 pitch to load the
bases, and catcher Wilson Ramos tied the game at 4 with an infield
single on a grounder up the middle that LeMahieu knocked down.
The free-falling Rockies (40-60) fell to 6-25 since June 16, with an
overworked bullpen at the heart of the team's woes. After going 4-4
with a 5.68 ERA in June, Colorado's relievers are 1-6 with a 6.00
ERA this month.
"We played pretty well early," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said.
"Flande did a nice job. But we've struggled putting games away. No
way around it."
NOTES: Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki (left hip flexor strain) was
placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Sunday. He pulled
up running out a ground ball Saturday night at Pittsburgh. ...
Rockies LHP Yohan Flande was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs
to start Tuesday. ... Nationals manager Matt Williams said CF Denard
Span and 1B Adam LaRoche are candidates to get a day off Wednesday
when the teams conclude the series with a day game after a night
game. Both Span and LaRoche are left-handed hitters, and the Rockies
will start a left-handed pitcher for the third consecutive game.
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