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Ramon Ortiz had quite a game the last time he took the mound. He'll look to build on a strong start when the Washington Nationals continue their four-game series with the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Saturday. Ortiz (10-12, 5.12 ERA) took a no-hitter into the ninth inning of Monday's 4-1 win over St. Louis. He gave up a hit leading off the frame and was pulled after allowing a homer to Albert Pujols . But Ortiz seemed even more excited about hitting his first career homer in the eighth.''When I hit the home run, I said, 'Oh my god, it's a home run.' I said, 'Yes,''' Ortiz said. ''It's unbelievable. I can sleep tonight. We (were throwing) a no-hitter. I hit a home run.'' Ortiz had been 0-3 with an 11.42 ERA in his previous three outings and had not lasted more than seven innings in 27 starts coming in. Manager Frank Robinson hopes Ortiz learned from his success. ''He threw all his pitches for strikes, and attacked the strike zone confidently,'' Robinson said. ''I'd like to see him be as consistent as he was (Monday). ''If you let your pitches work for you and you're consistently around the strike zone, you can get hitters out even when you don't hit your location.'' Ortiz knows that Monday's outing will be tough to beat.''That was my best moment in baseball,'' he said. ''It was unbelievable.''Ortiz is 3-1 with a 4.55 ERA in four career starts against the Rockies. He gave up four runs in 6 2-3 innings of a 4-3 loss to them on June 12. The Nationals (61-80) have lost all six games against the Rockies this season, including Friday's 11-8 defeat. Nick Johnson and George Lombard homered for Washington, which committed a season-high six errors and has been outscored 56-27 by the Rockies this season. ''We've had some bad games,'' Robinson said. ''I can't ever remember a team of mine that's been this sloppy. Maybe we are trying to hard. Maybe we're not concentrating. Chris Iannetta snapped an 0-for-21 skid with a two-out RBI single in the eighth and Brad Hawpe and Jeff Salazar each added three RBIs for the Rockies (65-76), who won for just the sixth time in 20 games. ''It's finally nice to get going in the right direction,'' Iannetta said. ''I know I belong here. I was just relieved to see that hit fall.'' Josh Fogg (9-9, 5.36) will start Saturday for Colorado. He allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings of a 7-5 loss to San Diego on Monday, but did not receive a decision. Fogg is 0-2 with a 14.73 ERA over his last three starts and lasted just 1 1-3 innings in an 11-3 loss to the New York Mets on Aug. 30. He is 1-3 with a 2.92 ERA in six career starts against the Nationals, including a 9-2 win over them on June 13 in which he allowed one run in six innings.
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Topic: Gameday Thread: Nationals @ Rockies, Game 3 (L) (Read 22690 times)
