Major League Baseball
Colorado 9, Washington 4
When: 1:05 PM ET, Saturday, August 27, 2016
Where: Nationals Park, Washington, District of Columbia
Temperature: 88°
Umpires: Home - Mike Winters, 1B - Mike Muchlinski, 2B - Marty Foster, 3B - Mark Wegner
Attendance: 27901

WASHINGTON -- Carlos Gonzalez was 0-for-5 and had left four runners stranded when he came up to the plate in the top of the 11th inning on Saturday.

But the veteran first baseman came through with a two-run homer to aid a five-run outburst as the Colorado Rockies beat the Washington Nationals 9-4 in 11 innings to snap a four-game losing skid. It was the 200th homer in the career of Gonzalez, who broke into the major leagues with the Oakland A's in 2008.

"It is a great accomplishment," said the soft-spoken Gonzalez, sitting by his locker after the game of nearly five hours. "I don't play for personal numbers. I try to do something to help the team every day."

It was also a big day at the plate for outfielder Charlie Blackmon, who had three hits -- including two homers -- and made a nice diving catch in the last of the ninth.

"I felt like we lost momentum there in the ninth," said Blackmon, as the Nationals tied the game in the last of the ninth. "We missed some guys earlier in the road trip" with injuries.

Blackmon also hit a two-run homer off Yusmeiro Petit (3-4) in the top of the 11th inning to give the Rockies a 6-4 lead. It was the fifth time this year Blackmon, with 23 homers, had at least two homers in a game.

"Charlie was big. It gave us some breathing room," reliever Adam Ottavino said.

Gonzalez, who also had three RBIs, added a two-run homer off Petit later in the 11th to give the Rockies an 8-4 lead. It was the 24th homer of the season for Gonzalez and just the second extra-inning win for Colorado this year. Nick Hundley had an RBI single to make it 9-4 in the five-run 11th.

"We had to really fight for that 'W.' Charlie had a big day, a couple of homers," said Walt Weiss, the Rockies manager. "He has had some big hits lately."

The winning pitcher was Jake McGee (1-3), who pitched a scoreless 10th inning. Bryce Harper of Washington was ejected to lead off the 10th when he was called out on strikes by home plate umpire and crew chief Mike Winters.

"Frustration usually mounts over a period of time," said Dusty Baker, the Washington manager. "Everybody blows up from time to time. This is the time of year when tempers do flare up."

Washington's Jayson Werth had a two-out RBI single in the ninth to tie the game at 4 for the first earned run allowed this year by Ottavino. But Ottavino got hot-hitting Daniel Murphy to groundout to end the ninth with Werth on third.

Colorado (61-68) scored an unearned run in the seventh to take a 4-3 lead. Blackmon led off with a single and advanced to second on a bunt single by DJ LeMahieu (three hits) and went to third on a throwing error by Washington pitcher Marc Rzepczynski. Gonzalez had a groundout to drive in Blackmon.

The Nationals scored three runs in the fourth to tie the game at 3-3. Harper had an RBI double, Wilson Ramos drove in a run with a single and Danny Espinosa plated a run with a groundout.

Blackmon hit a solo homer in the third to give the Rockies a 1-0 lead off Washington starter A.J. Cole. Nolan Arenado led off the fourth with a double and later scored on a wild pitch while Cole was giving an intentional walk, and starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa had an RBI single to give the Rockies a 3-0 lead.

"We sort of messed up today in a couple plays," Baker said. "Boy it was a tough day today. It was a tough ending. We had some opportunities to win that game in regulation."

De La Rosa gave up three runs and eight hits with eight strikeouts in five innings as he threw a whopping 112 pitches.

Cole, in his second start of the season, gave up four hits and three runs in 5 2/3 innings. He also struggled with command, throwing 112 pitches while hitting a batter and throwing the wild pitch.

LeMahieu started at second base for the Rockies after he missed the past three games with inflammation in his left wrist. He is now hitting a league-leading .347 while Murphy is at .346.

Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon, Espinosa and Murphy had two hits for the Nationals (75-54), who began the day eight games ahead of the Miami Marlins in the National League East. David Dahl had three hits and Cristhian Adames and Arenado had two for the Rockies.

"I felt good. I am just sticking with my approach," Dahl said. "It was a long game but we were fortunate to get the win."

NOTES: Washington RHP and closer Mark Melancon, acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a trade July 31, was born in Arvada, Colo., about 10 miles from Coors Field. He got the last out Friday in a non-save situation in an 8-5 win over the Rockies. ... It was a long journey to the majors for Colorado INF-OF Stephen Cardullo, who went 0-for-3 with a walk in his first big-league game Friday as he started at first base. Cardullo was drafted in the 24th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of Florida State in 2010 and played in the Canadian-American Association from 2013-15 and for the London Road Warriors and Florence Freedom of the independent Frontier League in 2012. ... Rockies RHP Chad Bettis (10-7, 5.29 ERA) will start on Sunday in Washington. The Nationals did not name a starter before Saturday's game but it appears it will be RHP Lucas Giolito (0-0, 4.91 ERA), who made three earlier starts. RHP Joe Ross (7-4, 3.49 ERA) will make a minor league rehab start Sunday for Triple-A Syracuse in a spot that had been occupied by Giolito in the Chiefs' rotation. Ross went on the disabled list July 3 with right shoulder inflammation.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Colorado   Washington
Jorge De La Rosa Player A.J. Cole
No Decision W/L No Decision
5.0 IP 5.2
8 Strikeouts 4
8 Hits 4
5.40 ERA 4.76
Hitting
Colorado   Washington
DJ LeMahieu Player Danny Espinosa
3 Hits 2
0 RBI 1
0 HR 0
3 TB 3
.600 Avg .400
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Colorado 16 3 27 .340 28 10 8 5 0 0
Washington 12 0 14 .273 20 16 4 3 3 2