Nationals end 11-game skid with James Wood's walk-off homer in extras, avoid sweep from lowly Rockies

The Washington Nationals were on the verge of recording MLB's longest losing streak of the season, against a Colorado Rockies team that started the month by becoming the third-fastest major league team all-time to reach the 50-loss mark.

That's when James Wood got the Nationals out of the woods.

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With two outs and a man on third in the bottom of the 11th inning, Wood deposited a two-run, walk-off homer to center field Thursday afternoon. Also blasting a two-run shot in the fourth, the second-year left fielder logged all four of the Nationals' RBI in their much-needed, 4-3 win.

Still 22 years old, Wood is the youngest player in Nationals/Expos franchise history with a multi-homer game that's featured a walk-off dinger, according to MLB.com's Sarah Langs.

Wood now has 20 home runs on the season, and Washington now has its first victory in 13 days.

One more loss, and the Nationals would have tied their longest single-season skid: a 12-game drought from Aug. 8-20 in 2008, just four years into the team's history.

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The pressure was on at Nationals Park, especially because of Washington's opponent. The Rockies entered the four-game road series with an embarrassing 14 wins. Then Colorado rattled off three straight victories over the Nationals — thanks to a jaw-dropping 12 home runs — extending what turned out to be a four-game win streak, which began with a June 15 blowout of the Atlanta Braves.

That head-turning stretch represented 23.5% of the Rockies' wins this season.

Colorado didn't go yard in D.C. Thursday, though. The Rockies took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 11th inning after first baseman Michael Toglia drove in third baseman Ryan McMahon with a single to center.

Wood rescued the Nationals in the bottom half of the inning, launching a 1-0 pitch 428 feet into center field. The long ball also scored automatic runner Riley Adams, who was on third base at the time.