Desmond's HR in ninth carries Rockies past Nationals
Ian Desmond hit a solo homer with two outs in the top of the ninth to give the Colorado Rockies a 6-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on Sunday afternoon in Washington.
Desmond homered to center on a 3-2 pitch from Sean Doolittle (0-1), handing the Rockies (9-8) their third victory in the four-game series against his former team.
Adam Ottavino (3-0) earned the victory despite allowing a game-tying run on a wild pitch in the eighth. Wade Davis closed it and earned his seventh save.
Both starters came away with no-decisions. Stephen Strasburg allowed four runs in six innings. Tyler Anderson of the Rockies lasted 4 2/3 innings and gave up three runs on only two hits and struck out six but walked six.
Bryce Harper hit his seventh homer of the season in the first inning and gave Washington (7-9) a 1-0 lead.
The Rockies tied it on a Charlie Blackmon homer in the fourth before the Nationals took a 3-1 lead with two in the fifth.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Antonio Senzatela relieved Anderson and threw a high pitch to Ryan Zimmerman that glanced off the glove of catcher Chris Iannetta and went toward the backstop. Michael A. Taylor scored and then Trea Turner came in when Iannetta made a high throw to Senzatela covering the plate.
But Blackmon tied it in the sixth with a two-run double to right with two outs. Carlos Gonzalez followed with a single off Strasburg that gave the Rockies a 4-3 lead.
Washington tied it in the bottom of the inning when Wieters hit a solo homer, making it 4-4.
DJ LeMahieu hit a solo homer in the top of the eighth inning which gave Colorado a 5-4 lead before Taylor doubled with two outs, stole third and tied it on an Ottavino wild pitch in the bottom half.
Anthony Rendon (sore big toe) and was out of the Washington lineup for the second consecutive game. He is still considered day-to-day, and Daniel Murphy (knee surgery) will be doing extended spring training in Florida starting this week.
-- Field Level Media
