Harper and bullpen bail out Scherzer in 5-4 comeback win

DENVER - Bryce Harper had two doubles and went 3-for-3 with two walks, while Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos each homered as the Nationals came back to drop the Rockies 5-4 in the series opener Monday night at Coors Field.

The Nationals are now a season-high 23 games over .500 at 70-47.

Colorado raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first and led 4-2 after four innings. DJ LeMahieu went 4-for-4 and Charlie Blackmon hit his 21st homer for the Rockies.

Right-hander Max Scherzer lasted only four innings, his shortest outing of the season. He struggled with his control, having to throw 97 pitches to get 12 outs, and allowing seven hits and four runs with two walks and three strikeouts.

"Just glad I got picked up by the bullpen and the offense," Scherzer said. "As inefficient as I pitched, we got a win today. I just didn't pitch efficiently. I just didn't do a lot of things right tonight. Just couldn't get in a groove. They made me work for it. I felt like every single at-bat kept getting grinded out. I threw 100 pitches in four innings basically.

"But at the same time, I've been throwing the ball well. I'm not going to sit here and beat myself up. Just spit this one out and now I get ready for Atlanta."

Scherzer has allowed five homers in five career starts at Coors Field.

But the offense came back, thanks, in part, to Scherzer's leadoff single in the third, which was followed by Werth's 16th homer of the season, a two-run shot off of left-hander Jorge De La Rosa that cut the Rockies' lead to 3-2.

Werth has hit four homers in his last nine games. Is he seeing a reason for his recent power up surge?

"You could kind of see it in my batting practice and in my cage work," Werth said. "That's something I've never really tried to do is hit home runs it's more of a product of my approach and my swing and lately that's kind of getting back to that, driving that ball right-center spins out of the park.

"If I can do that consistently, that's when the home runs come and that's kind of where I'm at but it comes and goes."

Werth has now hit six homers in his career at Coors Field.

Ramos tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth with his 19th homer. Harper delivered the go-ahead run-scoring single in the seventh for a 5-4 lead.

Harper's 3-for-3 performance was his first three-hit game since June 8 at Chicago against the White Sox. But he doesn't really see a difference in his approach at the plate since making his return Sunday.

"We're in first place right now. That's the biggest thing for me," Harper said. "As long as we can stay there, and I can get going through August and September and October, I think we'll be OK. Having the team that we do, it's a lot of fun to be a part of.

"If I can help this team every single night, it's a lot of fun. Went out there tonight just trying to put the bat on the ball, and do everything I can to be a part of this win."

Manager Dusty Baker said it's always a good sign to see Harper get multiple hits like he was getting at the start of the season.

"He's getting some hits," Baker said. "He stayed off some tough pitches. It's great to see him swinging the bat. J.W. is swinging the bat. We got some key steals and base hits from Trea (Turner). Ramos hit one out. But the story really was our bullpen. The bullpen came in and bailed each other out, got some key double plays."

The Nationals relief corps aided in the comeback by firing five shutout innings after Scherzer's exit.

The bullpen allowed no runs on three hits with no walks. The defense record double plays to end the sixth and seventh frames to help keep the Rockies from adding runs.

Blake Treinen has induced 13 double plays this season, That is the most double plays by any reliever in the majors. Brad Ziegler has induced 11 double plays so far this season for Arizona and Boston.

Mark Melancon came in for the ninth to record his fourth save with the Nationals.

Turner now has 12 steals in 28 games. That is the third-most steals of any rookie in the majors this season.