WASHINGTON -- Rockies right-hander Karl Kauffmann, back up from Triple-A Albuquerque, treated Monday night as if he’d be starting against the Nationals. He studied the lineup the same, prepared the same. The only thing missing was, well, starting.

In terms of results, though, nothing was lacking.

After two scoreless innings from Jake Bird, who started as an opener, Kauffmann yielded just two hits and one run in four efficient innings of the Rockies’ 10-6 victory at Nationals Park.

“The mindset here was just putting us in a position to win, whether that was getting through four innings or getting through the game -- ready for whatever,” said Kauffmann, who earned his first Major League win, after going 0-3 with a 10.19 ERA in five previous appearances.

With how smoothly the pitching plan went in the series opener, could manager Bud Black be on to something that has been done elsewhere?

When the use of an opener became a trend attributed to forward-thinking organizations, the Rockies went the opposite way -- and enjoyed their best days.

Black broke in rookie starters Kyle Freeland, German Márquez and Antonio Senzatela, plus Jon Gray and Tyler Anderson (who still barely had a cup of coffee in the Majors) in 2017. He emphasized an old-school style marked by embracing the responsibility of starting a Major League game. This crew was the key to the Rockies making the postseason in consecutive years (2017-18) for the first time in team history.

Gray (Rangers) and Anderson (Angels) are elsewhere. Freeland, Márquez and Senzatela are where they’d rather not be -- the injured list. Different times just may call for a different approach.

Kauffman, Connor Seabold (who recently was taken out of the rotation) and Noah Davis (who has dealt with right elbow tightness and a finger blister issue this season) haven't had the immediate success of past starters. But the Rockies see possibilities in all.

The rotation will be whole again soon, with Freeland’s return from a right shoulder dislocation and veteran righty Chris Flexen’s addition to the rotation on the horizon. But preparing younger pitchers as bulk pitchers rather than starters is a viable plan.

“There’s a lot of pressure starting a Major League game -- the responsibility that I’ve talked about and what that means,” Black said. “It’s a great indoctrination for young pitchers to feel that. But at times it’s best to take a step back for them, come in during the third or fourth inning and settle into the game.”

Before Monday, however, Black referred to this as a “bullpen game,” their fifth this season as the rotation deals with its injuries. There was a true bullpen game in Denver against the Astros last Tuesday, when Bird -- one of the Majors’ leaders in relief innings -- started and everyone else who pitched was a reliever by trade.

Sunday’s 3-2 loss started with Ty Blach for three innings, then Seabold was strong for two innings before some less-than-hammered hits led to two runs. Still, he pitched with greater confidence than in recent starts.

On Monday, Kauffmann pitched the way the Rockies hoped when they brought him to Major League camp. Kauffmann doesn’t display the power he showed at the University of Michigan, when he pitched the team to a College World Series final before becoming a second-round pick in 2019.

Kauffmann may have learned a counterintuitive lesson between his two previous callups -- make opponents hit the ball.

He produced only five whiffs over his four innings. Only the last hit off Kauffmann, Jeimer Candelario’s seventh-inning leadoff double, bettered 100 mph. He threw three types of fastballs (four-seam, two-seam sinker and cutter) plus a changeup and a slider. All entered the strike zone, but rarely did they leave it with force.

“I just felt like I was on the attack pretty early,” Kauffmann said. “And I was just trying to command the ball.

“Some good things to build on.”

Alan Trejo lashed a career-high four hits, while rookie Ezequiel Tovar added three hits. Randal Grichuk’s three hits made him 13-for-30 (.433) in his past eight games. Nolan Jones drove a two-run homer to dead center.

And teammates who knew Kauffmann in Albuquerque were happy to see that what they saw coming when it arrived Monday.

“The hardest thing about the big leagues is believing you belong, your stuff plays and it’s going to work,” Jones said. “To see Karl put up zeroes and really look dialed in, it’s huge.”