Rockies’ rocky road continues with 8-3 loss to Nationals

The Rockies’ road to perdition is paved with strikeouts, missed opportunities and bad pitching.

The latest example? Their 8-3 loss to Washington on Thursday afternoon at Nationals Park. The Rockies managed four hits and struck out 13 times. They took just one game of the three-game series, scoring a not-so-grand total of seven runs.

With an 18-47 road record, the Rockies are on pace to go 22-59, tied with the 2023 team for the second-worst in franchise history. The 2014 team went 21-60 away from Coors Field.

Thursday marked Bud Black’s 1,160th game managing the Rockies, and he passed Clint Hurdle (1,159 from 2002 to ’09) for the most games managed in franchise history. Black’s 523 wins are second-most, trailing Hurdle’s 534.

Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin turned back the clock to his days with Arizona when he often dominated the Rockies. The veteran, 35, dazzled the Rockies for six innings, striking out eight and walking just one.

Corbin won his 100th career game.

Of Colorado’s four hits off Corbin, the only hit that did any damage was a solo homer to center field by Brenton Doyle with two outs in the sixth. Doyle’s homer was his team-leading 21st, extending his career-long hitting streak to 11 games.

Starter Cal Quantrill gave Colorado a chance to win. The right-hander, still being cautious because of right forearm tightness, pitched five innings. He gave up two runs on two hits, walked two and struck out four.

A leadoff walk to Joey Gallow came back to haunt Quantrill in the Nationals’ two-run third. A single by Alex Call, followed by a two-run single by James Wood, did the damage.

The Rockies trailed just 2-1 entering the bottom of the sixth, but the roof caved in on relievers Lucas Gilbreath and Peter Lambert.

Gilbreath, pitching in just his second big-league game since returning from a nearly two-year absence, gave up three runs on four hits and a hit-by-pitch. He failed to record an out.

Lambert gave up three runs on five hits in two innings. Juan Yepez ripped a three-run homer off Lambert in the eighth.

Catcher Jacob Stallings hit a two-run homer in the ninth for Colorado, his eighth of the season, tying his career-high, set in 2021.

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