Nats lose to playoff-bound Rockies, but clinch second place

DENVER - The Nationals emerged from the dugout at Coors Field this evening, the temperature already down to 51 degrees on its way to 42 degrees by the time the game ended. A sellout crowd of 48,089 packed into the ballpark for the opener of what could be a momentous weekend here to wrap up the regular season.

Alas, the visitors who had to break out their red jackets and hoodies for the first time in a long time weren't the ones playing for something meaningful. Aside from clinching second place in the National League East, which they did thanks to the Phillies' ninth consecutive loss.

No, this weekend is all about the Rockies, who in their 26th season of mile-high baseball are seeking their first-NL West title. A title they moved a step closer to achieving with tonight's 5-2 victory over the Nationals.

Behind four home runs, three off Joe Ross, Colorado won its 90th game of the year, clinched at least a wild card berth and reduced its magic number to clinch the division to two.

The Nationals, who are putting their best foot forward and attempting to win games this weekend as long as they still mean something to the Rockies, couldn't do enough things tonight to win the series opener.

Ross took the mound four times this month, the final three of those actually counting. (Remember his two-inning start against the Cubs before the heavens opened up and the game had to be wiped from the record book?) It wasn't an especially large sample for the Nationals to evaluate the right-hander, but it did offer up at least a glimpse of what they might be able to expect from him in the future.

So what did the Nats learn? They learned that Ross still is something of a work in progress as a pitcher, still mastering the art of effectively using all of his pitches and getting through a lineup two or three times in a game.

"I know he's going to be good," manager Davey Martinez said. "He's going to be really good. He's battled back from Tommy John. This is just kind of growing pains to get back into the swing of things. Next year, he's going to help us win a lot of games."

The most important thing the Nationals learned, of course, is that Ross' arm is healthy again. He suffered no lingering effects from the elbow surgery. His velocity was strong. His stamina was fine. Now, after a full offseason, he'll return in 2019 ready to prove he deserves to be in the Nationals' opening day rotation.

"I got a lot of things to work on, but I'd say the biggest thing is just being healthy," the right-hander said. "Feeling good, at least being on the mound, is the biggest thing for me. But I've got a lot of stuff to work on. Have to work on the slider; hasn't really been there for me, command and everything. Honestly, getting the stamina up so I can go deeper into games."

Ross' troubles tonight came in rapid succession in the bottom of the fifth. He had navigated his way through four innings allowing only Charlie Blackmon's solo homer, but then came a string of three batters that spoiled his evening.

Carlos Gonzalez hit a grounder to second that Adrian Sanchez couldn't handle for an infield single. Old pal Ian Desmond then drove a ball to the opposite field, carrying it over the fence for a two-run homer. Moments later, Chris Iannetta destroyed a pitch from Ross and sent it soaring 469 feet to left-center field, giving the Rockies a 4-2 lead.

"What I liked the most about him was, after he gave up the runs, he got three outs," Martinez said. "And I really, really, really ... I told him: 'The fact you went out there and got three outs like that, that's pretty impressive.' "

The Nationals had briefly taken a lead, finally cashing in against Kyle Freeland despite a plethora of early opportunities against the Colorado lefty. Despite 11 hits in six innings versus Freeland, they scored only two runs, both coming on Trea Turner's triple in the top of the fourth.

Those missed opportunities to add on early, though, came back to haunt the Nats. Down two runs in the sixth and needing his bullpen to keep the game close, Martinez handed the ball to Sammy Solís to face David Dahl.

Dahl promptly murdered a high fastball into the second deck, and Martinez immediately yanked Solís after the one batter. Left-handed hitters now own a .993 OPS against the left-handed Solís. No batter in the NL owns that high of an OPS for the season.

Down 5-2, the Nats could not make a dent into Colorado's bullpen, leaving them frustrated about their earlier missed opportunities versus Freeland.

"It feels like we didn't score any runs tonight, but I felt like we hit the ball pretty well," Turner said. "We just didn't hit it out of the park like they did, and I think that was the difference. Theirs went over the fence."