Instant analysis: Nats 5, Rockies 4

Associated Press

Ross Detwiler allowed three runs over five innings in his return from the DL.

Game in a nutshell: In the rubber game of the first series of a long road trip, the Nationals found themselves needing to rally from behind to beat a tough Rockies club. Ryan Zimmerman gave them an early 2-1 lead on his 10th homer of the season, but Colorado came right back to take a 3-2 lead off the just-reinstated Ross Detwiler. Still trailing in the seventh, the Nationals "rallied" to tie the game thanks to back-to-back balks called on reliever Wilton Lopez (who was subsequently ejected). They then took the lead in more conventional fashion, getting back-to-back doubles from Roger Bernadina and Zimmerman, then an RBI single from the red-hot Ian Desmond (who went 4-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 15 games). Solid relief work from Craig Stammen, Xavier Cedeno and Drew Storen bridged the gap to Rafael Soriano, who did allow one run to score in the ninth before sealing his 17th save. Thus the Nationals head to Cleveland with a series victory, a winning record (33-32) and a deficit in the NL East that has now been trimmed to 5 1/2 games.

Hitting highlight: Obviously, Zimmerman's two-run homer and RBI double played crucial roles in today's win, but let's not ignore another stellar offensive performance from Desmond, who is on a sustained tear at the plate right now. With a 4-for-4 showing this afternoon, he extended his hitting streak to 15 games, a stretch during which he's batting .404. Overall, Desmond is now hitting .293 with a .483 slugging percentage that ranks third among all MLB shortstops (behind only Troy Tulowitzki and Jean Segura). Throw in the fact he hasn't been charged with an error in 46 games, and Desmond is starting to make a strong case for his second All-Star selection (and first actual game appearance).

Pitching highlight: In his first start in nearly a month, Detwiler (not surprisingly) looked a bit rusty. The Rockies jumped on him for a quick run in the first inning, then added two more in the fourth. Detwiler did find the strike zone with some consistency (51 of 77 pitches overall) and under normal circumstances would have been good to go deeper into the game. But given the fact he just returned from the DL and made only one rehab start in the minors, manager Davey Johnson didn't want to push the left-hander too much and thus ended his afternoon after only five innings.

Key stat: Since Wilson Ramos went back on the DL May 16, Kurt Suzuki is hitting .192 with a .234 on-base percentage and a .219 slugging percentage.

Up next: The road trip continues with a weekend series in Cleveland. Gio Gonzalez faces Justin Masterson in Friday's 7:05 p.m. opener at Progressive Field.