Early offense fuels Nationals behind Parker's strong start

WASHINGTON -- Manager Dave Martinez has emphasized the importance of an early lead throughout the season. With a younger team now than just a month ago, that scoring cushion is even more beneficial.

“When we score first, they seem to ease up a little bit, the at-bats get a little crisper, a little better,” Martinez said. “The whole idea today was, 'Now it’s time to knock out the starter. Keep working good at-bats, let’s knock the starter out and get the bullpen in the game.' And they did that today.”

An early offensive burst propelled the Nationals to a 6-1 victory over the Rockies on Wednesday at Nationals Park.

The Nats plated four runs in the third inning off right-hander Tanner Gordon to even the three-game series while rookie southpaw Mitchell Parker improved to 7-7. They are 31-16 this season in games in which they score first.

“You can see it in their faces,” Martinez said. “When we score early, they’re all pretty much upbeat. The dugout, they’ve got it going on a little bit and they keep carrying it over. When we play from behind, it’s sometimes tough for a young team because they’ve got to come back and they struggle a little bit with it. Even though we’ve done it, to do it every day is tough.”

Washington took a 1-0 lead in the second inning off an RBI double by Joey Gallo in his first start since June 11.

Gallo was reinstated from the injured list on Monday after missing 60 games because of a left hamstring strain.

Alex Call led off the third inning with a single, and James Wood advanced him to third on a 106.7 mph ground ball into right field.

Keibert Ruiz drove in Call with an RBI fly-ball single to make it a two-run advantage.

“As I always say, we really try to stay in the middle of the field, try to get the ball up,” Martinez said. “[Gordon] had a good changeup. We were trying to get the ball up in the strike zone. [Luis García Jr.] hit a fastball up, which was awesome.”

The hot-hitting García belted a Statcast-projected 419-foot home run into center field to give the Nats a 5-0 lead.

García is batting .385 with a 1.054 OPS in August. He also has hit safely in 16 of his last 20 games.

“He’s starting to understand who he can be and playing consistent, which is great,” Martinez said of the 24-year-old second baseman. “... He’s been doing all of the things that we’ve asked him to do over the years, and he’s really putting together a really good year this year.”

Parker anchored the Nationals with a career-best-tying seven complete innings and did not allow a run until the seventh frame, a performance that García summed up as “unbelievable.” Parker held the Rockies to five hits and one run, with one walk and six strikeouts across 83 pitches.

“It makes it a lot more simple,” Parker said of the early lead. “You’re able to attack a little more. Maybe [you] don’t have to be as fine and just know that they’re back there [and] that they’re there for you.”

Parker has completed seven innings four times already in his rookie season. In those outings, he has a 1.29 ERA, a .170 opponent’s batting average and 22 strikeouts.

"Good arm, good stuff, live fastball -- a lot like the guy [DJ Herz] last night,” said Rockies manager Bud Black. “Two lefties with a live arm. The fastball plays. It's got movement and life in the hitting area. The ball has a little giddy-up at the end. [Parker] got inside on us a little bit, then ran the ball away from us. He also has a good changeup and breaking ball to the lefties.”

Parker’s standout start was a bounce-back after allowing nine runs off 72 pitches in three frames at Philadelphia on Aug. 15.

“Nothing seems to really bother him,” said Martinez. “He learns from his mistakes from the previous starts, and then he gets back and gets after it. Today, he pounded the strike zone. … He was working ahead. His breaking ball was way sharper today than it’s been a couple outings ago. He threw the ball really well.”