WASHINGTON -- For nearly most of his three seasons in a Rockies uniform, right-hander Tanner Gordon has been the guy who has been there when Colorado has needed him.
Was Wednesday night the start of Gordon becoming a guy who is there all the time?
In a career-best seven innings, Gordon struck out five and held the Nationals to one run while pitching the Rockies to their seventh victory in their last 12 road games, a 13-1 win over the Nats.
Gordon, 28, performed well enough in Spring Training for rotation consideration, but was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque to provide depth. When called up, he was a long reliever and occasional starter until the Rockies cut ties with Michael Lorenzen on Aug. 18.
In his first true rotation start, Gordon yielded five runs on nine hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings in a home loss to the Guardians on Friday.
Wednesday was much better.
"I’m slowly getting back into my routine, and that has helped a ton,” Gordon said. “Being a starter in my career and then going into the bullpen was a little change of pace. But the biggest thing has just been finding my routine again.”
Success can be regular if Gordon can maintain the early-count proficiency he demonstrated vs. Washington. At times when Rockies pitchers have been ahead in counts, the next pitch gave away the advantage and made putting batters away harder.
Under first-year pitching coach Alon Leichman, Rockies hurlers and those through the organization have repeatedly heard the mantra "get ahead, stay ahead, kill."
Gordon put that into action against the Nats.
“He got ahead, then at 0-1 he was 14 out of 15 strikes, which is elite,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He got ahead and stayed ahead, and that was a good result for him.”
During a messy 2025 season, Gordon bounced between the Majors and Triple-A but ended up leading the team in wins with six -- of its 43 total victories.
He also tied the Cardinals’ Michael McGreevy for the lead among National League rookies in quality starts with seven.
This year’s string of wild ups and downs -- in role, and even in travel -- help explain the 5.75 ERA Gordon carried into Wednesday.
Gordon yielded extra-base hits in each of the first three innings, but the only run surrendered was Andrés Chaparro’s leadoff homer in the second.
Gordon then sailed, retiring 10 of the final 12 hitters he faced.
“When they put up runs, that takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders,” he said. “We had the foot on the gas from pitch one, and we never let up.”
From the spring, the Rockies had Gordon pitch games on back fields to experiment with new pitches and grips. Then he spent much of the year uncertain when he’d pitch -- and in which role. But all of that helped Gordon, who put together a solid plan with catcher Hunter Goodman on Wednesday by relying on the pitches that have been his best all along.
“Fastball-changeup, that’s been my bread-and-butter my whole career -- a mainstay,” Gordon said. “I do tweak the changeup here and there. The curveball, I added this year, I have the cutter and I’ve been tweaking the slider all year. We’ve found good grips and good sights for those pitches.”
The Rockies traded reliever Pierce Johnson to the Braves for Gordon and righty reliever Victor Vodnik (now with the Marlins) at the 2023 Trade Deadline. Can he be developed into part of the pitching future?
Rookie righty Gabriel Hughes is set for his 10th career appearance and ninth start on Thursday afternoon, with the Rockies vying to win the four-game series. Then there's righty Mason Adams, obtained from the White Sox at this year’s Deadline.
The club has control of righty Ryan Feltner the next two seasons, and righty Chase Dollander should return from right elbow surgery next season.
Gordon, whose pitching was a key reason for the Rockies’ 25th road victory this season -- their most since going 27-54 away from Coors Field in 2022 -- is in position to grab a rotation spot going forward.
“He’s getting a great opportunity -- an opportunity that he’s earned,” Schaeffer said. “I’m looking forward to T.G. taking starts down the stretch here, and tonight was a really good one to build on.”