Three Washington Homers Bury Colorado, 7-3

Washington hit three home runs — two of them traveling over 420 feet — to pull away from Colorado 7-3 on July 21. The story of the night was a Nationals offense that punished every moment of Colorado vulnerability with something loud and long.

Washington wasted no time. In the first inning, Andres Chaparro launched a 427-foot shot to left center, scoring Wood and Mead with it — a three-run blast that put the Nationals up 3-0 before Colorado had settled in. Chaparro finished 1-for-3 with 3 RBI and a run scored. Curtis Mead, who went 3-for-5 on the night, was one of those runs crossing the plate, and his presence at the top of the lineup looks like it created real problems for Kyle Freeland all evening. Freeland went six innings, allowing 7 hits and 4 earned runs against a Washington lineup that appeared to have his number from the jump.

Colorado answered in the third. Willi Castro doubled to center, and three runs scored — McCarthy, Rumfield, and Carrigg all coming home to tie the game at 3-3. That was the moment Andrew Alvarez, who had been shaky (4.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB), looked most exposed. But Washington's bullpen steadied things. Tom Cosgrove threw two scoreless innings — no hits, no walks — and Matt Krook added a clean ninth with a strikeout. The tie, it turns out, was the high-water mark for Colorado.

The game broke open in the sixth when Jacob Young went 437 feet to left center, a solo shot that put Washington back ahead 4-3. Young finished 3-for-4 with a homer, an RBI, and a run scored — quietly one of the better individual lines of the night. Then came the moment that ended any real suspense: in the seventh, CJ Abrams homered to right center (420 feet), scoring Daylen Lile ahead of him. That two-run shot swung Colorado's win probability from 40% all the way down to 15% — a 26-point collapse in a single swing. Abrams went 1-for-5 with 2 RBI and a run. Lile added a ninth-inning RBI triple to right that scored Wood, making it 7-3 and closing the book. Washington's offense appears to be operating with a level of pop that should concern anyone facing them right now — three home runs, seven runs, and a bullpen that gave up nothing after the fourth inning. Colorado's bats had one good inning and then went quiet. That's not a recipe for winning.