, who pitched in both games of Wednesday's doubleheader. Rodney then walked Charlie Blackmon, who advanced on a wild pitch and a single by David Dahl, and Daniel Murphy drove in Blackmon with a groundout.Murphy homered and scored three times for the Rockies, who avoided a four-game sweep and won for just the fourth time in their past 20 games. Jairo Diaz (3-2) worked a scoreless eighth, and Wade Davis earned his 15th save.Anthony Rendon hit a three-run drive for Washington, which wasted a chance to gain ground on first-place Atlanta in the NL East.Scherzer had been sidelined by inflammation under his right shoulder. He was 7-0 with a sparkling 0.87 ERA in his previous seven starts, but he struggled with his command at times in his first start since July 6.He allowed three runs and four hits while matching his shortest outing of the season. The three-time Cy Young Award winner struck out eight, increasing his NL-leading total to 189, and he hasn't lost since May 17, the last time he gave up three runs.Light-hitting Garrett Hampson drove a belt-high fastball from Scherzer over the wall in left-center for a two-run homer in the fourth, and Ryan McMahon, subbing for Nolan Arenado at third base, hit a two-run shot off Matt Grace in the sixth.Trailing 5-3, the Nationals rallied in the sixth against Bryan Shaw. Brian Dozier and Victor Robles walked and pulled off a double steal, with Dozier taking off for third while Shaw held the ball. He hesitated and then decided to throw to second, but Robles slid in safely. Gerardo Parra lined the next pitch to right to score both runners, prompting a shark-chomping celebration by Nats fans to his walk-up tune, the children's novelty song ''Baby Shark.'' Turner followed with a bloop single to score Parra and put Washington ahead for the first time.Matt Adams homered in the seventh to give the Nationals a two-run cushion. Murphy responded with his 10th homer in the eighth, setting up Colorado's rally off Rodney.Rendon's homer in the fifth off erratic Jeff Hoffman tied it at 3. Hoffman walked four, hit a batter and threw 95 pitches in five innings.LOCAL HEROTwo-time Women's World Cup champion Ali Krieger, a northern Virginia native, threw out a ceremonial first pitch. Krieger, a veteran defender, made three appearances during this year's World Cup and was a second-half substitute during the Americans' 2-0 victory over the Netherlands in the final on July 7.She was accompanied by her fiancee, Ashlyn Harris, a backup goaltender on the U. S. team who is also Krieger's Orlando Pride teammate.''The support we've had since we've come home is incredible,'' Krieger said. ''You pass people in the streets and they're just, like, `Congratulations.' It's just nice to know that everyone's watching women's football and really enjoying it and really supporting us.'' It was the closest Krieger has been to the White House since the World Cup. Krieger has said she would not go to the White House if invited by President Donald Trump because she disagrees with the administration's policies and supports teammate Megan Rapinoe, an outspoken critic of Trump.''We're not going over there,'' Krieger said with a laugh. ''We'll just give them a wave.'' ROSTER MOVEThe Nationals activated Scherzer from the 10-day injured list and optioned catcher Raudy Read, who lined out as a pinch hitter Wednesday night in his only appearance with the team this season, back to Triple-A Fresno.TRAINER'S ROOMRockies: Arenado got most of the day off before striking out as a pinch hitter in the ninth. The All-Star went 2 for 11 in the first three games against Washington.Nationals: RHP Jeremy Hellickson, on the 60-day IL with a right shoulder injury, will probably start throwing off a mound within two weeks, manager Dave Martinez said.UP NEXTRockies: Colorado's 10-game trip continues in Cincinnati, where German Marquez (9-5, 4.99 ERA) will start Friday against Reds All-Star Luis Castillo (9-3, 2.36 ERA).Nationals: Welcome the NL West-leading Dodgers for a three-game series, with Los Angeles sending All-Star Game starter Hyun-Jin Ryu (11-2, 1.76 ERA) to the mound against Anibal Sanchez (6-6, 3.80 ERA).---Follow Ben Nuckols at https://twitter.com/BenNuckols---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Scherzer returns as Nats eye series sweep of RockiesFLMThe Washington Nationals have been heating up with the temperature over the past two months, with the resurgent club sporting a majors-best 36-15 record since May 24.The Nationals aim to keep the heat on Thursday as they turn to three-time Cy Young Award recipient Max Scherzer in their bid for a four-game sweep of the visiting Colorado Rockies.Scherzer (9-5, 2.30 ERA) was in the midst of a scintillating 7-0 run with an 0.84 ERA during a nine-game stretch before being sidelined due to an inflamed bursa sac in his back/shoulder.The 34-year-old right-hander felt fine following a bullpen session earlier in the week, prompting Nationals manager Dave Martinez to declare that his ace was to return from the injured list Thursday for the series finale."After his bullpen, after his workouts, he feels good. He feels like back to normal. So he's ready to go," Martinez said Wednesday, per the Washington Post.While Scherzer has struggled against Colorado with a 2-4 record and 4.47 ERA in nine career starts, the Nationals have limited the reeling Rockies to just three runs in the series.Washington followed an 11-1 romp in the series opener Tuesday with a pair of narrow wins in a Wednesday doubleheader.Anthony Rendon belted a go-ahead homer to lead off the seventh inning in a 3-2 victory in the opener. Yan Gomes went deep in the seventh to highlight a 2-0 win in the nightcap.The results improved the Nationals to 12-3 in their last 15 at home and moved the second-place club within four games of the National League East-leading Atlanta Braves."A lot of people wrote us off," Rendon said. "And we said we need to make moves already or we need to do this, we need to do that, but you don't win the division, you don't win the pennant or whatever you want to call it in the first 50 games of the season or first 100 games of the season." Keeping the Nationals at bay will be the responsibility on Thursday of Rockies right-hander Jeff Hoffman (1-3, 6.75 ERA).Hoffman was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque on Sunday, and he is set to make his first major league start since June 20 and his second vs. Washington this season.Hoffman allowed four runs on six hits in five innings of a 6-3 loss to the Nationals on April 23. The 26-year-old sports an 0-2 mark with a 5.73 ERA in two career starts against the Nationals.Colorado's Charlie Blackmon will attempt to ignite a sputtering offense in the series finale. He is 8-for-18 (.444) in the past four games, and he is 4-for-13 (.308) with two homers in his career versus Scherzer.Nolan Arenado hasn't been as successful against Scherzer, going 1-for-7 with four strikeouts.Rockies manager Bud Black lamented his team's lost opportunities during the doubleheader, namely the limited success with runners in scoring position (2-for-17)."I think runners in scoring position is what's killing us," Black said after the nightcap. "We're not syncing up the pitching with the hitting, and when that happens, you're going to have a lot of games like this." --Field Level Media
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