Washington Nationals: 5 storylines to watch as Nats conclude huge homestand
By Drew Douglas
The Washington Nationals begin a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies tonight; here are five storylines to keep an eye on.
The Washington Nationals are coming off of a series win against the Milwaukee Brewers. Despite getting shutout in the first game of the series, the Nats still managed to score 23 runs in the three games.
The series featured one of the most dynamic offensive performances in major league history on Thursday afternoon. The Nats scored 15 runs and tied several records. In the third inning, Brian Goodwin, Wilmer Difo, Bryce Harper, and Ryan Zimmerman combined to hit four consecutive home runs, which tied a major league record. After a Daniel Murphy fly-out, Anthony Rendon joined the home run parade, crushing the Nats’ fifth homer of the inning, which also tied a major league record.
After all was said and done, the Nats had eight homers, which was one short of the National League record for homers in a game. On top of all the homers, Andrew Stevenson also checked in with his first major league hit.
The Colorado Rockies, under the leadership of Bud Black, have played surprisingly well this year. Before the season, PECOTA projected that the Rockies would win just 76 games. However, they are currently on pace for 91 wins. If the season ended today, they would be the second Wild Card team and would make the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
Although the Rockies have put together a solid season, they have struggled a bit lately. They are coming off of a brutal series in St. Louis in which they were swept.
This is the second time the Nats and Rockies have played each other this year. Back in April, the Nats won a four-game series in Colorado and scored at least 11 runs in three of the four games. If this series is anything like that April series, we are in for an entertaining series between two playoff-caliber teams.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at five key storylines for what should be a competitive weekend series.