Rockies at Nationals (Game 1)
The Washington Nationals lost their offense when the rain came, now they need to scramble to find it again with two games coming up. The Nationals, who scored 15 runs on Thursday before having Friday's series opener washed out and falling short on Saturday, will try to get their offense going when they host the Colorado Rockies on Sunday in a split doubleheader.
The Rockies, who dropped three in a row before getting Thursday and Friday off, got a strong start from German Marquez on Saturday and did enough with the bats to grab a 4-2 win and stay within one game of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the top wild card spot in the National League. One area of concern for Colorado was the bridge to closer Greg Holland, but Pat Neshek made his debut on Saturday after being acquired from Philadelphia and worked a perfect eighth inning. Washington piled up 19 hits and eight home runs against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday but could not get the ball out of the yard against Marquez and totaled three hits in Saturday's loss as Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Daniel Murphy and Anthony Rendon combined to go 0-for-13. The Nationals will try to muster better swings on Sunday against Kyle Freeland and Jon Gray while Washington counters with Erick Fedde and Edwin Jackson.
TV: 1:35 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado), MASN (Washington)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies LH Kyle Freeland (10-7, 3.64 ERA) vs. Rockies RH Erick Fedde (NA)
Freeland picked up a win over Pittsburgh last Sunday, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks over six innings. That marked the first start since July 9 for the rookie 24-year-old, who is having his innings monitored in his big-league campaign. Freeland is making his first appearance against Washington and is 4-3 with a 4.12 ERA in 10 games - nine starts - on the road.
Fedde is making his major-league debut in place of Stephen Strasburg, who is not expected to miss much time after being placed on the 10-day disabled list earlier in the week. Fedde went 4-4 with a 3.72 ERA in 27 games -11 starts - across two levels of the minors and closed strong with a total of three earned runs allowed over his last three appearances. The Las Vegas native owns 251 strikeouts and just 66 walks in his minor-league career.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Rockies recalled OF Raimel Tapia on Saturday and designated RHP Jordan Lyles for assignment.
2. Nationals SS Wilmer Difo drove in at least one run in each of the last three games.
3. Washington placed INF Stephen Drew (abdominal) on the 10-day disabled list.