Three keys

Key moments in the Rockies' 6-5 victory against the Washington Nationals on Friday night at Coors Field:

1 Troy Tulowitzki singled and Matt Holliday homered on the first two pitches thrown by Nationals closer Chad Cordero in the ninth. Todd Helton followed with an infield single on a 3-2 pitch, and Garrett Atkins doubled on the next pitch. Brad Hawpe loaded the bases with a full-count walk. Yorvit Torrealba then greeted Jon Rauch with a tying, two-run single. After Cory Sullivan advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt, pinch hitter Ryan Spilborghs grounded to first for the second out. Then Hawpe scored from third when shortstop D'Angelo Jimenez booted Kazuo Matsui's groundball.

2 Catcher Torrealba threw wide to second on a force play after Nationals catcher Jesus Flores led off the seventh with a single, and Shawn Hill tried a sacrifice bunt. After Flores was forced at third on Nook Logan's sacrifice attempt, Matsui was charged with an error on his throw to second for a possible inning-ending double play. Instead, the Nationals had the bases loaded, and Ryan Zimmerman greeted reliever Taylor Buchholz with a two-run single and a 4-1 lead.

3 Matsui tripled with one out in the third, then was held on Tulowitzki's flyball to medium center, with third base coach Mike Gallego choosing not to challenge the below-average arm of Nationals center fielder Logan. Matsui ended up on third when Holliday flied out to end the inning.

Etc.

Holliday's two-run home run in the ninth extended his hitting streak to 14 games, tied with Cincinnati catcher Javier Valentin for the longest active streak in the majors. . . . Tulowitzki ran his hitting streak to nine games with an RBI single in the first. It was his 19th RBI in his past 17 games. He also singled leading off the ninth and is 17-for-40 during the streak. . . . Zimmerman's home run was his 20th, equaling his rookie total from a year ago. Zimmerman was the fourth pick overall in the 2005 draft, three ahead of Tulowitzki by the Rockies. . . . Logan has two career home runs, both at Coors Field - with Detroit on June 12, 2005, and with the Nationals on Sept. 10, 2006. . . . Buchholz had his scoreless-inning streak ended at 12, longest of the year for a Rockies reliever, when Zimmerman homered in the eighth. . . . Left-hander Brian Fuentes worked a 1-2-3 ninth, his fifth scoreless effort in six games since returning from the disabled list. . . . Matsui singled and tripled in his first two at-bats, which equaled his hit total for his 20 previous at-bats. He wound up 2-for-5, and is in a 7-for-41 slump.