The Rockies got an extra day of rest yesterday when their game against the Atlanta Braves was postponed due to inclement weather, but they’re back to work on Friday as they enter the nation’s capital to take on the Washington Nationals for the first time in two years.
Germán Márquez (12-10, 3.93 ERA) will be starting for the Rockies, a day after he was originally scheduled. Making his 30th start of the season, Márquez has followed the trend of many Rockies this season and has struggled on the road, currently owning a 4.93 ERA away from Coors. He’s looked good recently, however - the righty has allowed just two earned runs through 11 innings thus far this month. He’ll hope to keep that positive momentum going against a team that’s knocked him around a bit in the past, as Márquez owns a 6.50 career ERA versus Washington and has allowed 20 hits in 18 innings over three starts.
As mentioned, the Nationals have a different look to them now as opposed to when they last faced Colorado. The Rockies, however, have faced Josiah Gray (0-2, 6.00 ERA) before (in his MLB debut, though he was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers then). Gray, now in his first full season as a regular member of a major league rotation, has run into some trouble lately. He’s allowed five or more runs in three consecutive outings, particularly getting beaten up by the long ball (23./9% HR/FB rate). The Nats will desperately try to get a decent outing from the 23-year-old, as they’ve been playing some rough baseball recently. They’re 4-6 in their last ten games, but 10-20 in their last 30 overall. Yeesh.
Matchup-wise, there’s not a whole lot of data. Márquez has held Josh Bell to an .071 average in 14 at-bats, and Alex Avila is hitless in his eight attempts. Nats superstar Juan Soto is 1-for-3 (which is par for the course, as the below tweet mentions), and veteran Ryan Zimmerman is 2-for-5. Meanwhile, Trevor Story and Brendan Rodgers are both 1-for-2 against Gray, and Charlie Blackmon’s 0-for-2. Hopefully they can come together to keep Gray from collecting his first major league win.
First Pitch: 5:05pm MST
TV: AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (COL), MLB.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
Lineups:
America's pastime in America's capital.
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) September 17, 2021
Here's tonight's lineup in D.C! pic.twitter.com/SQ21PPeeJK
Since June 1, Juan Soto has literally gotten a hit in 1/3 of his ABs.
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 17, 2021
He’s also walked 91 times.
How do you pitch to this guy?#NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/b7YnmcICHP