Advertisement

Nationals nearly match Royals' season run total during series at Coors Field

Mark Townsend
·Yahoo Sports Contributor

This is the tale of two baseball teams. One with an explosive offense that just got done carving up Coors Field and making mince meat of Colorado Rockies pitching. The other with an offense desperately scratching and clawing for each and every run it scores.

We’re speaking of the Washington Nationals, who just racked up 46 runs while taking three of four games from Colorado, and the Kansas City Royals, who through 21 games this season have scored 54 runs. Total.

[Sign up for Yahoo Fantasy Baseball: It’s not too late to get in the game]

That is not a misprint.

The Nationals are obviously flying high right now, having won 10 of their last 11 games overall. In dismantling Colorado this week, Washington scored in 16 of a possible 36 innings. That includes scoring 11 runs during the seventh inning of Thursday’s 16-5 win.

Washington’s attack was paced by a massive series from Trea Turner, who finished with 11 hits, eight runs scored, 11 RBI and 23 total bases over the four games. He even completed the Nationals third-ever cycle in Tuesday’s 15-12 victory.

Bryce Harper reached base 10 times during the series, and that’s without starting on Monday. Even pitcher Gio Gonzalez got in on the fun, notching a pair of RBIs on a single and walk on Thursday.

Adam Eaton (left) congratulates Bryce Harper after his three-run home run during Thuesday's 16-5 win against the Rockies. (AP)
Adam Eaton (left) congratulates Bryce Harper after his three-run home run during Thuesday’s 16-5 win against the Rockies. (AP)

The Nationals could probably use a day off just to catch their breath.

As for the Royals, they actually were off on Thursday. Chances are their day was spent searching for answers on offense.

Their 54 runs rank dead last in MLB. Making matters worse, the next lowest output is Pittsburgh with 71. Making matters the worst, they are now 85 runs behind Washington’s league-leading 139.

The Coors Field factor obviously skews things a little bit. But it doesn’t take away from how impressive Washington has been throughout April and how dismal Kansas City threatens to remain if it can’t find an offensive boost soon.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

– – – – – – –

Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!