Drew Storen surrenders grand slam, Nats lose 5-4

By Josh Land

Nationals

August 07, 2015, 3:41pm

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The Nationals jumped out to an early lead sparked by Danny Espinosa in the first. Espinosa ripped a double down the left field line and then took third when Kyle Parker misplayed the ball.

Bryce Harper followed with a groundout to second which scored Espinosa easily. It was Harper's 69th RBI, placing him fifth in the National League.

Right-hander Jordan Zimmermann has yielded one hit with one strikeout through two scoreless frames.

Update: Harper led off with a single in the fourth. Rockies right-hander Jorge De La Rosa had Harper down 0-2 but the Nats slugger sliced a liner to left.

Ryan Zimmerman then hit a rocket to right-center that rolled to the wall. Harper raced all the way around to the plate on the double.

Zimmermann has struck out four while allowing just two hits through five scoreless innings.

Update II: A leadoff single from Espinosa and a walk from Harper turned into two more runs in the sixth for the Nats. Jayson Werth's sacrifice fly to deep center plated Espinosa and Ian Desmond's two-out double scored Harper.

Zimmermann has blanked the Rockies, giving up just two hits with five strikeouts through six innings.

Update III: The Rockies finally got on the scoreboard in the seventh. All-Star Nolan Arenado smoked a double to start the frame. With two outs, Ben Paulsen's single to left scored Arenado to cut the Nats lead to three.

That ended Zimmermann's night after 106 pitches through 6 2/3 innings. He allowed one run on four hits with no walks and six strikeouts.

Update IV: Drew Storen couldn't hold a three-run lead in the seventh. A one-out walk to Daniel Descalso was followed by a fly out to center. But then Storen gave up consecutive two-out singles to Jose Reyes and Nolan Arenado to load the bases.

On a 1-0 count Carlos Gonzalez turned on Storen's 94 mph heater and rocketed a grand slam over the Nats bullpen.

Update V: Yunel Escobar drew a one-out walk in the ninth but Espinosa popped out and Harper struck out to end the game.

The Rockies beat the Nationals 5-4.