Goodman's Walk-Off Homer Seals Wild 8-7 Colorado Win

Hunter Goodman ended it with a 399-foot shot to left center in the eighth inning, giving Colorado an 8-7 win over Washington on July 22. The game featured five lead changes, two CJ Abrams home runs, and enough back-and-forth to make a neutral observer dizzy.

Washington struck first and struck hard. Abrams launched a 423-foot two-run homer to center in the first, putting the Nationals up 2-0 before Colorado had even blinked. Then the second inning happened. Colorado sent a parade to the plate — Moniak singled to score Rumfield, a sacrifice fly from Johnston brought in Karros, McCarthy doubled to right to score Moniak, and Carrigg singled home McCarthy. Four runs, one inning, and suddenly Colorado led 4-2. Miles Mikolas was done by the third inning having allowed 6 hits and 3 earned runs in 3.2 innings, and the Rockies looked in control.

Abrams had other ideas. He answered Colorado's second-inning eruption with a 434-foot two-run shot to right center in the third — his second homer of the night — knotting the game at 4. Colorado pushed back immediately when a groundout scored Castro to make it 5-4, but Washington flipped it again in the fourth when James Wood doubled to left, scoring both Nuñez and Ruiz to put the Nationals up 6-5. This game appeared to have no interest in staying settled. Colorado tied it again in the fifth when Rumfield singled home Goodman to make it 6-6.

Then came the moment that effectively decided things. In the sixth, Mickey Moniak hit a 421-foot homer to right center, and the win probability swung from 47% to 76% in Colorado's favor — a 29-point lurch that reflected just how pivotal that swing was. Washington refused to fold entirely; a sacrifice fly from Vivas in the seventh scored Wood to tie it at 7. But Goodman had the last word, going deep to left center in the eighth for the walk-off. He finished 2-for-5 with a homer, an RBI, and 2 runs scored. Moniak was equally sharp: 2-for-4, a homer, 2 RBI, 2 runs. The story of the night was Colorado's lineup depth — Carrigg went 3-for-5, McCarthy added 2 hits and an RBI — but Abrams' two-homer, 4-RBI night for Washington was the kind of performance that deserves more than a loss. He simply ran out of innings.