LeMahieu, rain delay contribute to Nats' 6-2 loss at Colorado

DENVER - The Rockies came back after a long rain delay and took it to the Nationals, scoring four runs after the third inning to break open a close game and win 6-2, wasting what could have been a good outing for Gio Gonzalez.

DJ LeMahieu has been the hottest hitter in the series. He tripled in the fifth for his seventh hit in two games. LeMahieu scored on a Nolan Arenado groundout to give the Rockies the lead for good 3-2.

Arenado then added a sacrifice fly to score Gerardo Parra from third base in the seventh and the Rockies led 4-2. Pinch-hitter David Dahl added a two-run double and the Rockies led 6-2.

Each club scored two runs before the long rain delay of 2 hours and 5 minutes.

Bryce Harper had an RBI groundout and Wilson Ramos added a run-scoring single to give the Nats a 2-0 lead in the third.

The Rockies countered with a two-run homer by LeMahieu off Gonzalez in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 2-2. Gonzalez had battled to a full count, although he appeared to get squeezed before LeMahieu's game-tying blast.

"It's frustrating," Gonzalez said. "At the same time, Mad Dog (pitching coach Mike Maddux) had a great point was you got to put that behind you. I didn't turn the page after that pitch and it kind of bit me in the rear end with that one. Even the 3-2 curveball down, it was a good pitch, he just got down there and got it, same thing with the changeup, down and away. He's just seeing it."

Manager Dusty Baker said losing Gonzalez after the long delay messed up what could have still been a quality start.

"That was the worst time you could have one," Baker said of the rain delay. "Gio was throwing the ball good. The balls that were hit were pretty good pitches. It was about too much LeMahieu, with seven hits in a row. Every series we play, somebody's haunting us and killing us on the other side. One or two guys, mostly one guy. We just got to figure out how to get LeMahieu out and pitch a little better against everybody else."

Daniel Murphy finished 2-for-4 and Anthony Rendon was 3-for-4, but the Nationals offense struggled to score runs after the rain. The Nationals ended up 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. In the first two games of this series, the Nats have left 19 men on base.

"You never want to lose a starter, either side, when you come here," Murphy said. "The starters are kind of at a premium here. You want them to go as long as you can. I think this place especially.

"Gio was throwing the ball well, but again, they had to go to the bullpen and we had ample opportunities to try to strike against their bullpen. Unfortunately, offensively we weren't able to do so tonight."

Jayson Werth's single in the third extended his on-base streak to a Nationals record 44 games. He is tied with Tim Raines for second all-time in franchise history. Rusty Staub holds the franchise record of 46.