WASHINGTON -- Mickey Moniak derived pleasure from becoming the answer to an obscure trivia question -- one that arose from the happy totals of Tuesday night’s 10-6 victory over the Nationals.
During a season in which the Rockies have been bombarded with all-time stats of deficiency, even the most esoteric bit of accomplishment will do.
The Rockies knocked seven homers in the win, matching the club single-game record (also accomplished May 31, 2016, against the Reds, and April 5, 1997, at Montreal). They homered four times in the eighth inning for the third time in club history and the first time it's happened on the road.
But Moniak’s eighth-inning blast put him in history’s fine print.
The Rockies finished the game with 10 hits to become the second team in the Modern Era to homer seven times but finish with 10 or fewer hits. The other time the feat was accomplished was Aug. 4, 2022, for the Angels against the Athletics.
Moniak also hit the seventh homer that game for Anaheim.
“I don’t think I’ve ever gone up to home plate trying to hit a homer. I’m just trying to put a good swing on the ball,” said Moniak, who signed with the Rockies on March 26 after the Angels released him late in Spring Training and has nine homers (four in eight June games). “That [2022] game, that was my first hit as an Angel. So I was definitely not trying to hit a home run. I was just trying to get on base.
“That’s one of those weird, wacky stats in baseball, and to say I’m a part of it is pretty cool. It’s something to tell my grandkids and kids and so forth.”
Of course, in the early months, the Rockies have been stuck in a race to the bottom of history’s barrel. Tuesday’s victory moved them to 16-57 – a game better than the 1932 Red Sox, who now own the worst 73-game start (15-58) in the Modern Era.
But the here and now looks respectable.
Colorado, which sent Washington to its 10th consecutive loss, owns its second three-game winning run of the season and has won seven of its past 14.
Keep this up, and Moniak really has something to tell his eventual descendants.
“In life, not just baseball, you get tossed tough situations,” said Moniak, whose ninth-inning homer on Monday was the difference in a 6-4 victory over the Nationals. “At least in my view, it’s how you react to them, how you react to adversity, and keep putting one foot in front of the other and just grow.
“We could have let the start of the season weigh on us and beat us down. I don’t think we’ve done that. We’re starting to play with more confidence, starting to show up to the field and expect to win the game instead of trying not to lose.”
Michael Toglia homered twice, in the fourth off Nationals starter Michael Soroka and in the record seventh off Jackson Rutledge, in his second game since returning from an option to Triple-A. Thairo Estrada, who left in the eighth with what the Rockies said was a right hand contusion after being hit by a pitch in the seventh, knocked his first homer with the club -- a solo shot in the second off Soroka.
The club said X-rays of Estrada’s hand were negative, and he is listed as day to day. Estrada missed the early part of the season after being hit with a pitch during Spring Training and sustaining a fractured right wrist.
Hunter Goodman’s 14th homer of the season (10th on the road) opened the seventh-inning power show with a three-run shot off Cole Henry. Ryan McMahon followed with his 11th homer of the year to give the Rockies their first back-to-back homers of 2025.
The Rockies liked back-to-back so much, they did that again -- first Toglia and then Sam Hilliard, his second of the season -- off Rutledge.
“It was like, ‘Who’s going to do it next? Someone’s gonna hit a home run,’” Toglia said. “Everyone wanted to be in the box.”
Goodman said, “That was an exciting inning.”
Moniak became the seventh-homer-on-a-10-hit-night specialist by going deep against Eduardo Salazar in the eighth. The Nats caused stress with five runs in 1 2/3 late innings against righty reliever Anthony Molina.
Weak offensively in the early going, the Rockies have scored five or more runs in seven of their last nine games.
“Adding late has been a trend lately -- a good trend,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “The coaches preach that we don’t quit until the game is over. You saw that tonight.”
“There have been learning moments," Moniak said. "Schaeff has talked about it. If we’re not taking the learning moments, learning from them and getting better, we’re doing ourselves a disservice.”