WASHINGTON
Carlos Gonzalez continued his home run barrage and not just against anyone, but off Washington ace Max Scherzer.
His two deep homers and D.J. LeMahieu’s two-out, two-run single in the eighth inning gave Colorado its first road series since late May, beating the Nationals 6-4 on Sunday. Washington has lost seven of the last 10 games.
Gonzalez leads the National League with 12 homers and 27 runs batted in since the All-Star break and has hit 21 of his 25 since June 1.
After falling behind on Gonzalez’s first homer, the Nationals used the long ball to seize the lead back. Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth hit back-to-back pitches out of the park off starter Yohan Flande. Zimmerman added another solo shot in the third as Washington took a 3-1 lead.
That is usually enough for Scherzer, who entered the game with a 2.31 earned-run average and is one National League’s most dominant pitchers.
Light-hitting Daniel Descalso hit a home run off Scherzer with two outs in the fourth inning to close the gap to 3-2, and Washington chased Flande in the fifth inning, but the Rockies got out of the inning without giving up a run. Descalso’s long ball came on a Scherzer fastball down the middle.
“You can’t ever afford to leave the ball in the middle of the plate and I paid for it,” said Scherzer, who struck out 10 in six innings but remained at 11-8 despite a 2.44 ERA.
Washington blew a chance to close within a half game of the front-running New York Mets in the NL East.
Usually sterling reliever Drew Storen allowed a single to Ben Paulsen, hit Michael McKenry, who was trying to bunt, and then gave up D.J. LeMahieu’s winning two-run single.
“I made good pitches, and sometimes those ground balls find a hole,” said Storen, who was demoted from closer to set-up man when the Nationals acquired Jonathan Papelbon from Philadelphia before last month’s trade deadline.
“It’s important for us to realize how important (Drew’s) been for us and continue to show the confidence we have in him,” said Nationals manager Matt Williams.
Zimmerman said there is no panic.
“We’re not sitting there watching the scoreboard in August,” said Zimmerman.
Rockies rumpus
Eight of Ryan Zimmerman’s 13 hits since he returned from the DL have gone for extra bases (five doubles, three homers). ... With a day game after a night game in the midst of 10 consecutive games without an off day, Walt Weiss rested Nick Hundley and DJ LeMahieu in favor of Michael McKenry and Daniel Descalso. ... Rockies pitcher Jon Gray (0-0, 4.50 ERA) will open Colorado’s four-game series in New York against the Mets on Monday night. Gray, 23, allowed five hits and two earned runs in four innings in his major league debut last Tuesday against Seattle.
