Three keys

Key moments in the Rockies' 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon at Coors Field:

1 Trailing 1-0, the Rockies put runners on first and second with no out in the second inning, but Paul Maholm struck out Ryan Spilborghs, Yorvit Torrealba and Jamey Carroll.

2 Franklin Morales gave up three runs in the third inning. Three straight one-out hits, the last a double by Josh Phelps, produced two runs and Jose Bautista singled home the final run with two out.

3 Matt Holliday singled with one out in the eighth and Todd Helton walked. But former Rockies pitcher Shawn Chacon struck out Garrett Atkins and got Spilborghs to pop out to shortstop.

Etc.

Holliday extended his hitting streak to 13 games. He has reached base in 29 consecutive games, six short of the club record shared by Larry Walker (2002) and Todd Helton (2006). . . . One day after making his first start this season at third base, Carroll made the first start of his career in right field. Carroll, who made his right field debut as a substitute Monday, went 0-for-4 and has only one hit in his past 16 at-bats. . . . Troy Tulowitzki extended his hitting streak to eight games. . . . Rookie Ian Stewart roped a double as a pinch hitter in the seventh and is 3-for-7 as a pinch hitter. . . . Right-handed reliever Jorge Julio has held opponents to five hits in 44 at-bats in his past 15 appearances. . . . The scheduled starting pitchers tonight, the Rockies' Jeff Francis and the Nationals' Shawn Hill, are Canadian. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it will mark the first time two Canadian-born starting pitchers have squared off since July 1, 2000, when Florida's Ryan Dempster faced Montreal's Mike Johnson.

Scouting report: Washington Nationals

Series history: The Rockies lead the all-time series against the Washington/Montreal franchise 67-53 despite losing three of four games in Washington in July. The Rockies swept a four-game series at home against Washington last year and are 34-23 against the franchise at home, including 29-19 at Coors Field.

Roster report: Pitchers Micah Bowie (injured left hip), Jason Bergmann (left hamstring) and John Patterson (right elbow) are on rehabilitation assignments. Right-handed starter Jason Simontacchi was placed on the 15-day disabled list (elbow tendinitis) July 20. Washington acquired Willy Mo Peña on Saturday in a trade with Boston. Outfielder Ryan Langerhans cleared waivers Wednesday and was outrighted to Triple-A Columbus (Ohio).

Quickly: The Nationals rank 13th in the 16-team National League in hitting. . . . The Rockies scored only seven runs in four games against the Nationals in July and were shut out in the final two games. . . . Since July 7, the Nationals are 19-7 against National League teams outside the East Division. . . . Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman has recorded 14 winning RBI and shares the National League lead with Holliday. . . . On Tuesday, center fielder Nook Logan recorded the franchise's first five-hit game since 1998 and is hitting .348 (40-for-115) with nine doubles and nine RBI since the All-Star break.