The Washington Nationals beat the Colorado Rockies 4-1 on Wednesday night thanks to a tie-breaking two-run triple hit by Jayson Werth in the eighth inning.
Colorado took an early 1-0 lead over the Nats in the second inning when first baseman Ben Paulsen scored on a wild pitch thrown by Washington starter Stephen Strasburg.
Strasburg ended up with the win on Wednesday, tallying his seventh of the season. He threw 93 pitches and 68 strikes in seven innings while giving up two hits, one run, and striking out five batters.
Washington’s offense struggled to score early after last night’s hit parade despite putting ten base runners on through the first six innings. They started making some headway in the seventh inning when outfielder Bryce Harper scored off a wild pitch thrown by Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa to tie it up 1-1.
Then, a two-out two-run triple hit by Werth — the night’s leadoff man — against Rockies reliever Rafael Betancourt in the eighth put the Nats up by a pair of runs, giving them a 3-1 lead.
Relievers Casey Jansen and Jonathan Papelbon entered the game with the two-run lead and pitched two scoreless innings to maintain the lead.
The Nats tacked on their final run of the night in the ninth against reliever John Axford when third baseman Yunel Escobar scored on a two-out RBI-single hit by first baseman Ryan Zimmerman.
HERO: Jayson Werth for his clutch offense late in the game to give Washington the lead.
GOAT: There’s no sense in pointing fingers tonight. A win’s a win at this point.
UP NEXT: Max Scherzer (11-9, 2.73) and the Washington Nationals face Yohan Flande (2-1, 4.19) and the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field at 8:40 p.m. Eastern Time.