The Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals close out their four-game series this morning at Nationals Park. Colorado enters at 52-81, while Washington enters at 62-73.
Monday’s 13-3 loss extended the Rockies’ losing streak to a season-high seven games. During that stretch, Colorado was outscored 57-24, the rotation went 0-7 with a 9.64 ERA across 32.2 innings, and the offense averaged just 3.4 runs per game.
The Rockies have responded with two straight wins. They snapped the streak Tuesday behind
an encouraging major-league debut from Mason Adams, who allowed one run over four-plus innings while striking out five. They followed it Wednesday with a 13-1 win powered by a loud offense and seven innings of one-run ball from Tanner Gordon.
Now they have a chance to leave Washington with three wins in four games.
Rookie right-hander Gabriel Hughes gets the ball for Colorado in his ninth major-league start, still looking for his first win.
Hughes enters at 0-5 with a 6.54 ERA, though the expected numbers are more encouraging. His 3.46 xERA, .230 xBA and 4.5% barrel rate suggest the quality of contact against him has been better than the surface results.
The pitch mix is still fastball-heavy. Hughes throws his four-seamer 55% of the time, and his fastball usage climbs over 60% when including the sinker. The four-seamer has not missed many bats, but it has limited damage, holding hitters to a .324 xSLG and a 28.2% hard-hit rate.
His hard-contact suppression is encouraging, but his low chase rate, low whiff rate and modest strikeout rate are working against him.
The curveball is the pitch to watch behind the fastball. Hughes has thrown it only 10.5% of the time, but hitters have a .326 xSLG against it with a 31.4% whiff rate and a 52.9% strikeout rate. It is still a small sample, but the numbers are interesting.
Washington counters with Jake Irvin, who gives the Rockies a unique look but is also a pitcher they should have a chance to hit.
The 29-year-old righty enters today with a 6.53 ERA in August. He has completed six innings in each of his last two starts, but the overall month has still been rough.
Standing 6-foot-6, Irvin gets excellent extension and works from a lower slot, with a 27-degree arm angle. He works with six pitches, anchored by three fastballs: a four-seamer, sinker and cutter. The four-seamer leads the arsenal at 28.2%, followed by his curveball at 23.4% and sinker at 19.7%. The cutter checks in at 15.8%, while the sweeper and changeup are used less often.
The curveball has been his best pitch by run value. It is not a big 12-6 shape. It is tighter, with more horizontal action, and the velocity gap is real: his fastballs sit in the low 90s, while the curveball averages around 78 mph.
After Wednesday night’s 13-run outburst, the Rockies have a decent chance to keep the offense moving if they force Irvin into the zone and avoid letting the curveball steal too many easy counts.
Connor Norby starts at second base after hitting his first career grand slam Wednesday night. Norby has hit .310/.408/.571 with two home runs and nine RBI in 14 games since joining the Rockies. Troy Johnston gets the start in right field after going deep last night and hitting .318/.444/.636 over his last seven games. Zac Veen is also back in the lineup, starting in left field.
And then there is the 63-win chase.
Colorado needs to finish 11-18 to reach 63 wins, and the schedule does not exactly open up after this series. Twelve of the Rockies’ remaining games come against sub-.500 teams: Baltimore, Detroit, St. Louis and Seattle. That sounds helpful until you put the group together. Those four teams are a combined 257-277, good for a .481 winning percentage.
A .481 winning percentage is exactly what the Rockies managed in April. They have not played at that level in any month since.
A 62-win team and a 63-win team are both bad teams. But after three straight seasons with 100 or more losses, including 119 losses in 2025, the Rockies need some kind of finish line worth tracking.
So, does getting to 63 wins matter? Maybe. Maybe not.
But beating Washington this morning would make the tough road to 63 feel a little more manageable.
The details…
First Pitch: 11:05 a.m. MDT
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
Nationals SB Nation Site: Federal Baseball
Lineups:
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
- Fewer ads
- Create community posts
- Comment on articles, community posts
- Rec comments, community posts
- New, improved notifications system!
Please keep in mind ourPurple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!
