MLB Game Preview - Colorado at Washington

Thu Jul 25, 2019 4:05 PM EDT

The Washington Nationals have been heating up with the temperature over the past two months, with the resurgent club sporting a majors-best 36-15 record since May 24.

The Nationals aim to keep the heat on Thursday as they turn to three-time Cy Young Award recipient Max Scherzer in their bid for a four-game sweep of the visiting Colorado Rockies.

Scherzer (9-5, 2.30 ERA) was in the midst of a scintillating 7-0 run with an 0.84 ERA during a nine-game stretch before being sidelined due to an inflamed bursa sac in his back/shoulder.

The 34-year-old right-hander felt fine following a bullpen session earlier in the week, prompting Nationals manager Dave Martinez to declare that his ace was to return from the injured list Thursday for the series finale.

"After his bullpen, after his workouts, he feels good. He feels like back to normal. So he's ready to go," Martinez said Wednesday, per the Washington Post.

While Scherzer has struggled against Colorado with a 2-4 record and 4.47 ERA in nine career starts, the Nationals have limited the reeling Rockies to just three runs in the series.

Washington followed an 11-1 romp in the series opener Tuesday with a pair of narrow wins in a Wednesday doubleheader.

Anthony Rendon belted a go-ahead homer to lead off the seventh inning in a 3-2 victory in the opener. Yan Gomes went deep in the seventh to highlight a 2-0 win in the nightcap.

The results improved the Nationals to 12-3 in their last 15 at home and moved the second-place club within four games of the National League East-leading Atlanta Braves.

"A lot of people wrote us off," Rendon said. "And we said we need to make moves already or we need to do this, we need to do that, but you don't win the division, you don't win the pennant or whatever you want to call it in the first 50 games of the season or first 100 games of the season."

Keeping the Nationals at bay will be the responsibility on Thursday of Rockies right-hander Jeff Hoffman (1-3, 6.75 ERA).

Hoffman was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque on Sunday, and he is set to make his first major league start since June 20 and his second vs. Washington this season.

Hoffman allowed four runs on six hits in five innings of a 6-3 loss to the Nationals on April 23. The 26-year-old sports an 0-2 mark with a 5.73 ERA in two career starts against the Nationals.

Colorado's Charlie Blackmon will attempt to ignite a sputtering offense in the series finale. He is 8-for-18 (.444) in the past four games, and he is 4-for-13 (.308) with two homers in his career versus Scherzer.

Nolan Arenado hasn't been as successful against Scherzer, going 1-for-7 with four strikeouts.

Rockies manager Bud Black lamented his team's lost opportunities during the doubleheader, namely the limited success with runners in scoring position (2-for-17).

"I think runners in scoring position is what's killing us," Black said after the nightcap. "We're not syncing up the pitching with the hitting, and when that happens, you're going to have a lot of games like this."

--Field Level Media