The Colorado Rockies’ struggles continued versus the Washington Nationals Tuesday as they lost 11-1 on the road, thanks to a late explosion from the hosts.
The loss dropped the Rockies record to 47-53.
Ahead are takeaways from the loss.
Lambert hangs tall
Peter Lambert looked like the pitcher he was when he first burst onto the scene Tuesday night. Lambert made the eighth start of his career versus Washington and was solid throughout a majority of the outing.
Washington blitzed Lambert off the bat with Trea Truner blasting a solo home run to open up the bottom half of the first inning.
Adam Eaton then poked a double to center field and came around to score after Matt Adams hit an RBI single, making the score 2-0 in favor of Washington.
Lambert settled into a groove following a rough first inning. The 22-year-old weaved around a surging Nationals’ lineup, pitching four consecutive scoreless frames.
Lambert’s command was on point throughout the night. His fastball had life, and his changeup was deceptive and kept the Nationals’ offense off-balance throughout the early stages of the games.
The youngster allowed an additional run to score in the bottom of the sixth inning and was subsequently yanked from the game.
Lambert departed after 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits while racking up eight strikeouts.
Strasburg dazzles
Nationals’ pitcher Stephen Strasburg was in vintage form against the Rockies’ lineup.
Strasburg has been one of the best pitchers in the sport this season, pitching to a 3.52 earned run average entering Tuesday’s start. From the moment the game started, Strasburg was dominant and made Colorado’s offense look silly at the plate.
Strasburg had an excellent command of his pitches and used a combination of his fastball and curveball to keep Rockies’ hitter guessing all night long.
The fastball-curveball combination has been sensational for Strasburg this season. Drafted with the first overall pick in 2009, Strasburg came into the league as a power pitcher but has blended his velocity with deception as he has matured on the mound.
Strasburg weaved through six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out eight batters.
Strasburg’s outing was good for his 13th win of the season, a mark that leads the National League.
Howard makes his season debut
Sam Howard was the latest player within the Rockies’ organization to make his season debut in the big leagues in the loss.
Howard spent the first half of the season with the Rockies Triple-A affiliate, the Albuquerque Isotopes, pitching to a 3.83 in 44.2 innings pitched.
Howard was called up to the show after the Rockies made a slew of moves to their roster last weekend in New York.
Howard was summoned to the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning with one runner on and one out. Howard did not crack under pressure and managed to preserve the score at 3-0 to keep Colorado within striking distance.
That said, Washington managed to rally against Howard in the following inning.
Howard logged the first out with relative ease, but then plunked Anthony Rendon on the knuckles to provide the Nationals with a base runner. Juan Soto followed up by hitting a single to put runners on the corners. From there, Adams drove home a run, hitting an RBI single to extend Washington’s lead to 4-0.
Howard was then pulled from the game, ending his debut on a sour note.
Turner hits for the cycle
It has been a rough go-around for the Rockies since the All-Star break. The team has been unable to string together solid play as of late, and Colorado was embarrassed in the nation’s capital Tuesday.
It was a close game through the opening five innings, but as the game progressed, the Rockies faded as the Nationals shined.
One National shined in particular.
Nationals’ leadoff man Trea Turner was locked in at the dish and managed to record his second career cycle after hitting a double in the seventh inning. Interestingly enough, the first cycle of Turner’s career also came against Colorado on April 25, 2017.
Turner’s cycle was sandwiched in between an eight-run seventh inning for Washington that put the game out of reach.