Rockies ride Goodman’s 31st homer to win over Nationals

Rockies Report, Game 103:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: Hunter Goodman’s 31st home run of the season broke a 7-7 deadlock in the eighth inning, allowing the Rockies to turn back the Washington Nationals 8-7 to give them a chance at a .500 homestand.

Goodman lunged low to reach Washington reliever Clayton Beeter’s slider that finished below the strike zone and golfed it 399 feet over the left-field fence.

“It was a big moment. Stayed on it, stayed balanced,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer told media after the game. “Sometimes all ‘Goody’ needs is one hand, and it can go a long way.”

He's so Good, man pic.twitter.com/Ys2kjy8rGQ

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) July 22, 2026

Jordan Romano retired the Nationals in order — including strikeouts of All-Star James Wood and Luis García Jr. — to ensure Goodman’s homer was the difference and earn his seventh save of the season and his fourth in a Rockies uniform. That completed 5 1/3 innings in which the Rockies bullpen allowed just one run after taking the baton from starter Michael Lorenzen with two outs in the fourth.

With Lorenzen struggling, the Rox needed a big night at the plate and they got it, with 12 hits. Three came in the second inning, including Jake McCarthy’s 2-RBI double and a Cole Carrigg RBI single, both of which came with two outs. That allowed Colorado to cash in after getting the frame off to an auspicious start when former Rockies pitcher Carson Palmquist — starting for Washington — walked TJ Rumfield and plunked Kyle Karros to open the inning.

A 2-run CJ Abrams homer off Lorenzen in the third wiped out Colorado’s 4-2 lead, and the game turned into a see-saw affair from there. Karros’ RBI groundout in the third inning nudged the Rox back in front; a Wood 2-RBI double gave the lead back to the Nats in the fourth. Rumfield knotted it again in the fifth with an RBI single; Mickey Moniak launched a solo homer to put Colorado back in front in the sixth before Jorbit Vivas tied the game again in the seventh inning via a sacrifice fly.

Colorado improved to 41-62. The Rockies are now just two wins away from matching their 2025 total — and doing so potentially two months before they reached their 43rd win last year.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

Lorenzen’s recent progress hit a snag against the Nationals’ powerful lineup, and it began going askew with two outs in the first inning, when José Tena singled and Abrams followed by crushing a cutter that settled in the middle of the strike zone 423 feet into the Washington bullpen for his second homer in as many nights of the series. His third of the series followed two innings later.

Wood did the damage in the fourth with a two-out double that ended Lorenzen’s night, as Schaeffer called for Brennan Bernadino to start an extensive evening of work for the bullpen. Lorenzen kept the free passes in check — just one walk — but of the seven hits yielded by the Colorado starter, four were of the extra-base ilk.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Romano dispatched the Nats in the ninth inning.

NUMBER TO NOTE: 8.34 — Lorenzen’s Coors Field ERA this season, 3.30 runs higher than his road figure.

WHAT’S NEXT: Gabriel Hughes looks for his first major-league win after a solid performance in last Friday’s homestand opener. Cade Cavalli gets the call for the Nationals in Wednesday’s 1:10 p.m. MDT affair.

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