Carlos Gonzalez knew it was gone.
He knew it the moment his bat connected with Arizona left-hander Keith Hessler’s 83 mph slider in the bottom of the seventh inning, lining it off the second-deck facade in right field Wednesday night at Coors Field.
Grand slams don’t come along every day, so CarGo took his time admiring the fourth of his career and his second this season. He took six steps up the first-base line before tossing his bat aside. CarGo’s homer — his 32nd this season — delivered the Rockies from a 4-3 deficit to a 7-4 lead.
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“This is fun. This is what you work for every day,” Gonzalez said. “That was a big situation. We were down by a run with no outs and the bases loaded. You have to get the job done right there. That’s what you get paid to do.”
Gonzalez added a two-run homer in the eighth, making the final score 9-4 as the Rockies split the four-game series with the Diamondbacks. CarGo finished the night with a career-high seven RBIs.
He is now tied with teammate Nolan Arenado for the National League lead with 33 homers, one shy of his career-high of 34, set in 2010 when he won the National League batting title and was an MVP candidate.
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“He’s been pretty locked in for a while now,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “He can change the game at any time, not only on offense, but on defense. He’s one of those guys, one of those freaks, that can wow you at any time, on any night. He certainly did that tonight.”
Gonzalez also made a diving catch on A.J. Pollock’s shallow sacrifice fly to right field in the first inning. Had Gonzalez not made the play, Arizona might have ignited a big inning. Instead, the Diamondbacks scored only one run.
On a night when No. 1 pitching project Jon Gray failed to do anything special, the Rockies’ sluggers did the heavy lifting and the Rockies pounded out 18 hits, tying a season high.
Arenado, the second fist in the Rockies’ one-two punch, continues to hit a ton at the plate and should be preparing his trophy case for his third consecutive Gold Glove at third base. He hit a two-run homer in Colorado’s three-run first inning and added two 24-karat plays to his growing highlight collection.
In the fifth, with a runner on third, he closed out the inning with a diving stop of Welington’s Castillo’s smash, then got to his feet to throw out Castillo by a half step.
In the sixth, Arenado bare-handed Brandon Drury’s roller up the third-base line and gunned a throw to get Drury.
Arenado’s first-inning rainbow homer over the center-field wall gave him 100 RBIs for the first time in his career. Arenado became the first Rockies player with 100 or more RBIs in a season since Troy Tulo witzki drove in 105 in 2011.
“Right now, he’s Mr. Arenado,” said Gonzalez, flashing his 100-watt smile. “He’s got 100 RBIs, so when you reach that milestone you’re not Arenado anymore, you’re mister.”
Arenado was taken aback by his new title.
“I’m not married or anything … but it’s cool,” he said, laughing.
Per his custom, Arenado praised his teammates, including former infield partner Troy Tulowitzki, for getting on base so he could drive them in. But it’s clear that the 100-RBI benchmark means a lot to the 24 year old.
“It’s a great thing, and I’ve been blessed,” he said. “But it’s early and I don’t want to get too complacent. I want more RBIs and I want to help the team win.”
Gray remains winless after six starts in the majors and owns a 6.15 ERA.
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“I didn’t like (my performance),” Gray said. “I knew from the get-go that I didn’t have a feel for anything, but I still tried to battle and strand as many runners as possible, limit the damage.”
He entered the sixth inning with a 3-2 lead, but he couldn’t hold it. A leadoff double to left by Jake Lamb, followed by a one-out, game-tying double by Chris Owings, forced Gray out of the game. Ender Inciarte’s RBI single off reliever Christian Friedrick scored Owings, a run that was charged to Gray.
Gray flashed some toughness and staying power, but it was an erratic performance. The Diamondbacks didn’t bludgeon Gray, but they did get 10 hits off him in 5 innings. He needed 25 pitches to get through the first inning, including an 11-pitch battle with Pollock that ended with CarGo’s great catch but scored Inciarte for the game’s first run. Gray walked Inciarte to open the game.
“I thought he did a good job,” Weiss said. “He had a little trouble early, but I like the fact that he was able to settle in after that. I thought he did great job pitching through some traffic and keeping the game in tact for us.”
Patrick Saunders: psaunders@denverpost.com or
