Colorado Rockies at Washington Nationals

For nearly most of his three seasons in a Rockies uniform, right-hander Tanner Gordon has been the guy who has been there when Colorado has needed him. Was Wednesday night the start of Gordon becoming a guy who is there all the time? In a career-best seven innings, Gordon struck out five and held the Nationals to one run while pitching the Rockies to their seventh victory in their last 12 road games, a 13-1 win over the Nats. Gordon, 28, performed well enough in Spring Training for rotation consideration, but was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque to provide depth. When called up, he was a long reliever and occasional starter until the Rockies cut ties with Michael Lorenzen on Aug. 18. In his first true rotation start, Gordon yielded five runs on nine hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings in a home loss to the Guardians on Friday.