Josh Bell, Juan Soto homers back Erick Fedde’s sharp outing, Nationals rout Rockies

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Erick Fedde pitched seven sharp innings, Josh Bell and Juan Soto homered, and the Washington Nationals continued their high-scoring ways on the road by beating the Colorado Rockies 10-2 on Tuesday night.

Keibert Ruiz had three hits and three RBIs and Yadiel Hernández added three hits and two RBIs for the Nationals, who entered the game averaging a major-league high 6.4 runs on the road.

“For me, you can never score enough runs in this ballpark,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “The big thing, like we talked about, you score early but you’ve got to keep working good at-bats. They did that tonight. It was awesome to see Juan hit the ball like he did today and Bell going the other way. We’ve got another game tomorrow and we’ll try to repeat.”

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Washington Nationals’ Josh Bell scores on a single by Keibert Ruiz off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Justin Lawrence in the ninth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 3, 2022, in Denver.  (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The Nationals have won three of four to start their nine-game road trip after going into it off an eight-game losing streak.

“I know a lot of our bats were frustrated there for a little while,” Fedde said. “It just seemed like there’s lots of hits all across the lineup. That’s huge. I think a lot of guys are settling in the rotation and throwing the ball well and we’re playing great defense. That’s a mixture for success.”

Fedde (2-2) limited the Rockies to six hits and a run on Randal Grichuk’s RBI forceout in the third inning. He struck out three and walked two to reverse his fortunes at Coors Field, where Fedde had gone 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in four previous appearances here.

“I thought I was ahead in a ton of counts and winning 1-1 counts as well,” Fedde said. “It was just something I had been struggling with and falling behind hitters in the last couple starts prior (at Colorado). Today, I don’t think I got a curveball to my glove side all day, but I thought my sinker and cutter were really effective and I just kind of ran with them.”

C.J. Cron connected for his ninth homer of the season in the eighth inning off reliever Erasmo Ramírez for Colorado.

Germán Márquez (0-2) allowed seven runs on 10 hits in five innings, extending a rough stretch over his last three starts in which he has given up 15 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings for a 9.20 ERA in that span.

“I’ve been working so hard to fix the little things,” Márquez said. “But things aren’t working right now. I have to keep my chin up and keep going.”

Bell finished with three hits, including a three-run homer off Márquez in the third.

Victor Robles’ sacrifice fly in the fourth extended the Nationals’ lead to 4-1 and Soto connected for his fifth homer of the season leading off the fifth. Ruiz capped Washington’s three-run fifth with a two-run single and Hernández had a two-run double in the seventh. POWER AT THE PLATE Cron, who went 3-for-3, moved into a tie with Anthony Rizzo and Aaron Judge for the major league lead in homers. He leads the Rockies with nine multi-hit games. Since last Aug. 1, he’s batting .340 and leads the majors with 15 home runs and 51 RBIs.

NICE CATCH

Manager Dave Martinez took advantage of the Nationals’ off day Monday to do some fly fishing in Colorado. He said he caught an eight-pound rainbow trout.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: INF-OF Dee Strange-Gordon completed a weeklong rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Rochester and was reinstated from the injured list following an illness. In corresponding moves, INF Lucius Fox was optioned to Class AAA Rochester and RHP Aníbal Sánchez (cervical nerve impingement) was transferred to the 60-day IL.

Rockies: INF-OF Garrett Hampson was reinstated from the 10-day injured list after recovering from a right-hand contusion.

UP NEXT

Washington LHP Patrick Corbin (0-4, 8.69 ERA) will be seeking his first win of the season when he starts Thursday night against Colorado’s LHP Austin Gomber (1-2, 3.86 ERA).