When it rains, it pours. In the midst of the Colorado Rockies’ worst stretch of the year, their fortunes once again went wayward Wednesday.

In the opener of a day-night doubleheader, the 3-2 score served as the second loss in as many days to the Washington Nationals.

Ahead are takeaways from the loss.

Gray’s command goes wayward, exits with injury

The dichotomy between career-high performances is evident. It’s either a positive or negative, with little in between.

For Jon Gray on Wednesday, his performance was the latter.

In only four innings and 76 pitches worth of work, Gray allowed only two hits and one earned run. The bad news was a career-high-tying five walks. The most egregious of the miscues came with the bases loaded in the fourth and final inning of his outing.

With former teammate Gerardo Parra up, Gray walked a run in to eliminate the club’s one-run lead. The at-bat came on the heels of a mound visit from Pitching Coach Scott Foster, a talk that failed to resolve the problems.

The free passes tied a career-high set in 2016. The hurler also walked five last year against the Dodgers in a 4-2 loss. Gray has now walked three-or-more hitters in 33 of his 110 career starts.

It was the second consecutive lackluster start for Gray, though the club announced he exited with a right calf injury – likely a partial reason for the command woes. His earned run average went down to 4.05, despite the lack of command.

Results of in-game tests on Gray’s ailment has yet to be announced.

Bettis’ scoreless spree a distant memory 

There was a point this year that Chad Bettis went 14.2 innings without allowing a single earned run. Since then, the results have taken a downward turn.

Dating back to June 14th, the starter-turn-reliever has allowed 22 earned runs in only 17.2 innings worth of work. Along the way, he’s allowed five home runs, including his latest blunder to Adam Eaton to break a 1-1 tie:

In the down spree, Bettis’ season-long ERA has risen from 4.03 to 6.31.

Several starters for the Rockies have faltered in recent weeks. In their wake, Bettis has been called upon to eat innings in hopes of salvaging their rest of the club’s bullpen.

When given a multiple-inning assignment, rather than a short stint, he’s forced to pace himself, limiting the velocity on his fastball. Without being able to go full speed, Bettis’ arsenal merely reverts back to its form when he struggled as a starter.

At his current pace, the veteran’s role is likely going to come into question, though his replacement in the long relief role doesn’t appear to be on the 25-man roster. A turnaround would be a far greater result for the Rockies’ dwindling playoff hopes.

McMahon-Alonso combo pays dividends

In the wake of Mark Reynolds’ dismissal, Yonder Alonso has hit the ground running for the Rockies. Luckily for him, Ryan McMahon has ensured his efforts don’t go fruitless.

Across only four at-bats with the club, Alonso has three doubles. In the loss, he swatted two, scoring with two outs each time. Coming through each time was the club’s up-and-coming second baseman.

In the fourth frame, McMahon came through with a sacrifice fly after a Raimel Tapia groundout advanced Alonso to third. Only two innings later, he singled to advance the veteran the final 90 feet once again.

The multiple-hit performance from McMahon continued what’s been a strong July. In 17 games, he’s hit .310 with 10 runs driven in.

On the other side, Alonso’s strong start has been a positive sign for the Rockies. With Reynolds struggling, the club was in need of a veteran force off the bench – something that the former Indians’ slugger has shown he can provide.

Heart of Rockies’ order fails to come through

The opportunity was there for the Rockies to once again put a dent in their losing ways. Instead, the leaders of the club fell short.

With Ian Desmond pinch-hitting and the top of the club’s order up in the ninth, Sean Doolittle held the door shut. Each of the four hitters in the inning failed to find the ‘big hit’ the Rockies have been searching for.

In all, Charlie Blackmon, Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado went 2-for-12 in the game.

The Rockies have been searching in recent weeks for a player to step up and put the club on his back. Their failure to find a solution has been a key reason for the worst stretch of an increasingly lost year.