Moose shows Rox blueprint with HR in 10-pitch AB

DENVER -- Until his 10-pitch, ninth-inning at-bat Saturday night that resulted in his first Rockies home run, Mike Moustakas had nothing to show for how he felt his plate appearances went.

Moustakas’ two-run shot off Anthony Banda keyed a four-run rally that brought the Rockies close enough to lose to the Nationals, 7-6, at Coors Field. So the trick is for the Rockies to make like Moustakas and carry some momentum out of their sixth loss, nine games into 2023.

“I felt really good in the box all day,” said Moustakas, who joined the Rockies during Spring Training and was making his third start. “Obviously, I didn’t get any hits until the home run, but I felt good, felt comfortable.”

The first homestand of the year started with a rousing 1-0 victory Thursday behind a stellar Kyle Freeland start. But until the last inning of three games with the Nationals -- a team facing the same paltry wins projections -- the Rockies have done little offensively. They certainly could have used a performer like the Nats’ Stone Garrett, who doubled twice, singled, knocked a three-run homer and walked away with five RBIs.

But Moustakas, 34, in his 13th season and with three All-Star Games on his resume, knows a team has to build on what it has. The Rockies went to bed after knocking five hits in the ninth, including Elias Díaz’s two-run single, drawing a walk and having a shot until the Nats’ Carl Edwards Jr. struck out Kris Bryant (a teammate with the 2016 World Series-winning Cubs) to end the game.

“You don’t get into those situations by not believing in it and trusting in it,” Moustakas said. “The one thing we did great tonight was we got the next guy up and kept the line moving. We just came up a little short tonight.”

The Rockies are keeping an eye toward the future, but they are also employing some mainstays and veterans like Moustakas, who have aspirations grounded in the now. Moustakas is coming off three injury-filled seasons with the Reds, who released him over the winter with a year left on the largest contract they had ever granted to a free agent ($64 million over four years). Moustakas signed with Colorado during Spring Training and earned a spot.

“All players have pride, all players want to do well,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “They want to feel a part of it, and you feel a part of it by doing things like that.

“So that was a great moment, for him and for us, because he’s fast becoming a player that other players are going to.”

Banda jumped ahead 1-2, but Moustakas fought to 3-2 and fouled off four pitches before sending Banda’s fastball a Statcast-projected 439 feet and into the second deck in right-center.

Since solid offensive performances at San Diego in the season’s first two games, the Rockies have shown too much of their old habit of chasing pitches out of the strike zone to force offense. Moustakas’ homer exemplified the stingy at-bats the team seeks.

“We’ve got some great players on this team and we’ve got some young guys,” Moustakas said. “They’re still learning the big leagues. A couple of times, even myself, we start chasing out of the zone and not sticking to our approach.

“But I love the aggressive side, man. I love when guys are out there swinging at good pitches. The more we get into the year, the better off we’re going to be.”