Reliable reliever Bard struggles as Rox allow another late rally

WASHINGTON -- Rockies reliever Daniel Bard’s delivery was dysfunctional, his pitches scattershot in the ninth inning Wednesday afternoon, but still …

“I firmly believed I was going to get out of it ‘til I didn't,” Bard said after he walked four (one with the bases loaded), hit one with the bases loaded and coughed up a three-run lead in a 5-4 loss to the Nats at Nationals Park.

“I felt just as good physically as I have the last three weeks, so you always feel like you’re one pitch away from finding it,” Bard said. “That’s how I felt the whole inning, and I almost got myself out of it, even how bad it started. But just even to the last hitter, the delivery wasn’t there and I was battling it.

“This was one of those days. It just snowballed.”

After Bard was replaced by Matt Koch with two outs and the bases loaded, CJ Abrams bounced a single just past first baseman Michael Toglia. Thus ended a six-game road trip in which the Rockies went .500 -- a step forward for a team that sits at 40-62. The last two losses went against the pattern of Colorado’s season, but at the same time, they were right on rhythm.

Wednesday was just the Rockies’ third loss in 39 games when leading after eight innings and their fifth in 35 games when leading after seven. It was similar to Tuesday night’s 6-5 defeat, when normally effective righty Justin Lawrence (who has shared closer duties with Bard recently) struggled.

The two losses in Washington came despite strong starting pitching, as Austin Gomber on Tuesday and Peter Lambert on Wednesday each went six innings with just one unearned run allowed. And there was enough offense to win a road game, with Wednesday featuring Elehuris Montero clubbing a two-run homer in his first game back from Triple-A Albuquerque and Ryan McMahon and Toglia adding solo shots.

Power had been lacking for the Rockies prior to the current 6-5 run since the All-Star break. The ability for starters to go deep into the game was also rare heading into the break, but it has recently begun to show up. But Colorado's two key relievers picked two bad days to struggle.

“You hate to have it happen back to back, because we had leads,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “We were in position to win. And predominantly this season when we've been in this position, we've won. And Daniel has been a big part of that, as well. So it's frustrating for Daniel, frustrating for us, because we played a really good game.”

Bard has a 2.97 ERA, although that is up from the 0.79 he was carrying until June 21. Over his previous three outings, he totaled four strikeouts against one hit and one walk in three innings.

A performance like Wednesday’s conjures concerns about the yips that interrupted Bard’s career for seven years and the anxiety that landed him on the injured list to start the season. But when Bard is good, he is still wild, just with effect.

Bard wins on velocity and downward movement, which can make up for less-than-pinpoint strike-zone performance. But walks to Lane Thomas and Jeimer Candelario on his first 10 pitches suggested he was going to have a hard time pulling it together.

“We told them to be patient,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “We told them, ‘You have to make him throw you a strike.' … They were patient, and then CJ got a big hit for us.”

"We talked to them before they went up there: ‘He's coming in the game, you have to make him throw you strikes.’ They were all aware of it."

But Bard, who hit Dominic Smith and walked pinch-hitter Ildemaro Vargas to force in runs, knows he can struggle and escape with one pitch.

This time -- with the bases loaded, one out and the Rockies still up, 4-2 -- Stone Garrett’s grounder was too weak to allow second baseman Harold Castro to end the game with a double play.

“[If] a couple of those balls are hit a little bit differently, it’s zero or one or two runs, and we win the game,” Bard said. “But I gave it away with the walks.”