Colorado Rockies vs. Washington Nationals Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 5/28/2022

Time: 6:05 p.m. ET

Venue: Nationals Park, Washington, DC

Where to watch: MASN 2, AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain

DraftKings: Rockies -190, Nationals +160

BetMGM: Rockies -185, Nationals +150

Caesars: Rockies -179, Nationals +160

Rockies: 20-24

Nationals: 16-30

The Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals will be playing in a doubleheader on Saturday after Friday's game got canceled due to weather. So this is going to be a prime opportunity for the Rockies to get back into the win column here with two winnable games after dropping the first one 7-3 on Thursday.

The Nationals got a rare victory from starting pitcher Patrick Corbin, ending his personal 10-start winless streak and getting his first win of the season after throwing 6.1 innings of work and dropping his ERA from 6.60 to 6.30. That sounds like worthy of a statue, if you ask me.

“It’s always good to get a win. It stinks it’s this late. I’ve been throwing pretty well," Corbin said. "Sometimes it doesn’t matter how you pitch if their guy’s out there throwing really well. Obviously it’s good. I’m glad it’s behind us.”

The Nationals haven't gotten many outings like that one but have been able to at least look halfway decent when showing they want to win. But unfortunately, those starts have been far and few between. Corbin's effort was a rare instance where everything went right and that doesn't happen very often.

"Down and effective," manager Dave Martinez said of Corbin's outing. "A lot of ground balls. Ball was down which I really like a lot. He pitched well."

Cesar Hernandez went 2-for-4 with an RBI, joining Dee Strange-Gordon as the only player to have multiple hits in the game. Josh Bell had one hit, but drove in two runs on a double in the first inning.

"The first inning was rough. It looked to me as though the pitches were sort of in the middle of the plate," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "Behind in the count and pitches in the middle against a group of hitters who are pretty good."

The Nationals jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening frame and the Rockies couldn't do anything with that. They did cut it to 4-3 after the third, but the Nationals continued to pad the lead. Yonathan Daza went 2-for-3, and Elias Diaz also had two hits, but nothing else more than that.

I don't normally put stock into doubleheaders, but this one nearly will guarantee a split. In this second game, I'm thinking is when the Nationals will get some revenge. I think the Rockies are struggling too much for their own good to actually put a decent run together and I think the home team is favorable in this situation, especially in a doubleheader. I like Washington to get the job done. Nationals win 6-4

Rockies are 6-13 on the road this season.

Rockies are 25-28 the past three seasons as a road dog between +100 and +150.

Nationals are 7-17 at home this season.

Rockies:
Connor Joe (R) LF
Yonathan Daza (R) CF
Charlie Blackmon (L) DH
C.J. Cron (R) 1B
Ryan McMahon (L) 3B
Brendan Rodgers (R) 2B
Randal Grichuk (R) RF
Jose Iglesias (R) SS
Elias Diaz (R) C

Nationals:
Cesar Hernandez (S) 2B
Keibert Ruiz (S) C
Juan Soto (L) RF
Nelson Cruz (R) DH
Josh Bell (S) 1B
Yadiel Hernandez (L) LF
Maikel Franco (R) 3B
Dee Strange-Gordon (L) SS
Victor Robles (R) CF

Batting average: C.J. Cron -- .308

Hits: C.J. Cron -- 53

Home runs: C.J. Cron -- 12

RBI: C.J. Cron -- 34

Wins: Two tied -- 3

Saves: Daniel Bard -- 10

ERA: Austin Gomber -- 4.11

Batting average: Josh Bell -- .296

Hits: Cesar Hernandez -- 53

Home runs: Juan Soto -- 8

RBI: Josh Bell -- 25

Wins: Josiah Gray -- 4

Saves: N/A

ERA: Josiah Gray -- 5.44