Colorado 4, Washington 3
When: 1:35 PM ET, Sunday, July 8, 2012
Where: Nationals Park, Washington, District of Columbia
Temperature:
95°
Umpires:
Home -
Jim Reynolds, 1B -
James Hoye, 2B -
Jim Joyce, 3B -
Mike DiMuro
Attendance:
25125
By SportsDirect Inc.
Rockies 4, Nationals 3: Jordan Pacheco doubled and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the ninth as visiting Colorado took advantage of Washington’s bullpen to steal the rubber game.
After pushing the tying run across in the eighth on a wild pitch by Mike Gonzalez, the Rockies used the same tack to grab the lead. Pacheco led off with a double off Tyler Clippard (2-3) and moved up on a sacrifice bunt.
Clippard tried to sneak a changeup past pinch hitter Jason Giambi on a 1-1 count but bounced it short and inside. Backup catcher Jhonatan Solano could not slide over to stop in, allowing Pacheco to easily scamper home.
Rex Brothers (4-2) got credit for the win in relief and Rafael Betancourt struck out pinch hitter Jesus Flores with runners on second and third to end the ninth and earn his 15th save.
Jordan Zimmermann started for the Nationals and allowed one run on three hits in seven innings before being lifted for a pinch hitter with a 3-1 lead despite sitting at just 95 pitches. The Washington bullpen promptly squandered that edge.
Sean Burnett surrendered a solo homer to Eric Young Jr. leading off the eighth and allowed back-to-back singles before being lifted without recording an out. Gonzalez came on and unleashed a wild pitch, scoring Dexter Fowler from third to knot it at 3-3.
Ian Desmond hit his 17th home run to give the Nationals a 2-1 lead in the fourth and Steve Lombardozzi singled in a run in the seventh for a 3-1 edge.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Desmond, who was removed from the NL All-Star roster due to an oblique strain but has been playing through the pain, is tied for the franchise lead for home runs by a shortstop with Orlando Cabrera (2003). … Clippard had a streak of 20 straight scoreless appearances come to an end. … Colorado won its first series since June 1-3 against the Dodgers and its first road series since Apr. 20-22 at Milwaukee.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Colorado
|
7 |
1 |
11 |
.219 |
12 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
Washington
|
10 |
1 |
15 |
.294 |
12 |
6 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
2 |