None of that fragility showed up in the box score. Colorado's lineup teed off in bunches — a 4-run frame, then another 4-run inning, then a 5-run explosion — while Washington's offense went cold outside of one run against Gordon. It was the kind of laugher that makes both front offices' September evaluations a little more interesting.
Gordon needed only one real blemish to pick up the win, and Waldron never found an answer for a Rockies lineup that piled up 15 hits on the night. For a team with a minus run differential this ugly all year, Colorado's ability to blow a game open like this — rather than just scrape by — says more about the version of this roster the Rockies are auditioning down the stretch than it does about Washington collapsing.
Both clubs are playing out the string at this point, but the shape of these losses and wins still matters for what each front office does this winter. Washington's decision to keep churning through waiver-claim arms like Waldron — his third organization of the season — is exactly the kind of look-see teams run when the standings no longer mean anything, and nights like this one make the audition tougher to spin.
Colorado still finishes with one of the worst records in the sport, and one blowout in Washington doesn't change the macro picture — but for a team that lost 119 games a year ago, stacking innings like the 7th and 8th here, when the roster could have folded, is at least a data point worth banking.