Colorado Rockies at Washington Nationals

After being held to just six runs in their previous four games and being no-hit through four innings of their series opener against the Rockies on Monday, the Nationals weren’t looking for style points as they came to bat in the fifth inning facing a 2-0 deficit. They needed runs. They eventually came mostly via small ball -- an infield single, a bloop single, a sac bunt, a two-base throwing error, two doubles, two stolen bases and another error. When the dust settled, the anemic-of-late Nationals offense scored five times in the frame en route to an eventual 13-3 win. “We've been struggling to score runs, right?” said manager Blake Butera. “I think once we kind of cracked it open a little bit and some runs started crossing the plate, you could kind of sense some energy and almost a weight off the shoulders: 'All right, now we go.'” In his return to the lineup after a four-game absence, CJ Abrams drove in the go-ahead run with a double down the right-field line with none out in the fifth. Abrams finished 1-for-4 with a walk, two stolen bases, two runs scored and his team-leading 92nd RBI. “Just try to make things happen,” Abrams said of the impact he can have on the lineup. “Bring good energy. It’s contagious, so just bring good vibes and have fun out there.” Among the Nationals’ offensive catalysts for much of the season, Abrams’ return from a sprained ankle was a welcome boost for the Majors’ highest-scoring team, which has been a shell of its former self for much of August. The five-run fifth against Colorado, though, got the Nationals going with three more runs coming in the sixth via a bases-loaded walk and a two-run single from Daylen Lile. Jorbit Vivas, who picked up three hits in a three-inning stretch, delivered a two-run single in the seventh. Lile then capped off a 3-for-5 night with a three-run homer in the eighth. “It looks like he's starting to get in his groove again,” Butera said of Lile, who had a career-high five RBIs. “We all know the type of player he can be. He knows the type of player he can be. I think the biggest thing for Daylen is seeing some balls fall, and once he gets a little taste of success, that belief comes back.”