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Standing 6-foot-1 and weighing a sculpted 220 pounds, Carlos Gonzalez certainly has the muscle to pick up some of the slugging slack the Rockies will be searching for in the absence of stellar rookie shortstop Trevor Story.

The slugger’s majestic two-run double Tuesday night that sliced the early August air before one-hopping the outfield wall provided ample evidence of that.

But it was the little things Gonzalez and others did for the Rockies during their 7-3 series-opening victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field that could provide a blueprint for how Colorado can keep alive its quest for an improbable playoff spot without its injured star.

“There’s a number of ways you can win games,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “You don’t always have to slug. I feel like we can still slug, but sometimes you have to win like we did tonight, passing the baton and stringing together tough at-bats.”

Gonzalez went 3-for-5 and drove in two of his four runs on balls that didn’t get out of the infield. That included the spoiling of a would-be double play in a game-swinging, three-run fourth inning,聽when he put his head down and churned his legs toward first base 鈥� with a little more on the line for the Rockies than in recent summers聽past.

“We have a great opportunity to make things happen and reach our goals,” said Gonzalez, who extended his hitting streak to 14 games. “You can’t just be satisfied. We have to continue to work every day.”

The victory was the 10th in 12 games for the once-again-.500 Rockies (53-53). They improved their MLB-leading record after the all-star break to 13-5 while gaining ground in the National League wild-card race. Colorado is only 3 1/2 games behind聽the Miami Marlins for the second wild-card berth.

The Rockies continued to play of with the patience of a team that knows it’s still in the hunt, with Weiss lauding the approach of hitters who forced Dodgers starter Brandon McCarthy to unleash 85 pitches in barely more than three innings of work.

David Dahl, who pushed his own hitting streak to eight games to begin his career, worked an 11-pitch walk in the first inning. The Rockies didn’t get on the board, but it was an example of the pesky nature seen from a team with something at stake.

The Rockies know the formula for contention has to include effective starting pitching, and they were treated to more of it Tuesday from Jon Gray. The powerful right-hander made quick work of the Dodgers with an electric fastball in the first inning before a 38-minute rain delay. Gray didn’t appear to have the same rhythm after the break, but he still managed to keep the Dodgers off balance with an effective changeup while striking out six and surrendering only two hits in five scoreless innings.

“It was a weird game overall,” Gray said. “It seemed like the first inning was a ninth inning with the rain delay. It was definitely a marathon.”

Gray improved to 8-4 (5-0 at Coors Field), while lowering his ERA to 3.77. It was his third straight victory and the fourth consecutive start in which he allowed one or fewer runs.

Lefty reliever Chris Rusin provided three innings of relief, the only damage coming on Justin Turner’s double with two outs in the eighth inning. Rusin’s聽effort helped preserve the bullpen for the rest of this critical homestand.

The Rockies, meanwhile, kept driving up the pitch count of McCarthy. The Rockies聽took the lead on Gonzalez’s run-scoring groundout in the third. And McCarthy could only get through two more batters in the fourth 鈥� walking Mark Reynolds and Daniel Descalso 鈥� before being lifted for lefty reliever Luis Avilan, who couldn’t plug the leaking.

Hundley drove in the first run of the inning with a single to left field, and the Rockies loaded the bases when L.A. couldn’t handle Gray’s sacrifice bunt. Avilan then plunked Charlie Blackmon in the shoulder to bring in another run. After DJ LeMahieu struck out, Gonzalez grounded into what looked like a sure double-play ball to Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, but after forcing Blackmon out at second, the Dodgers couldn’t beat a charging Gonzalez, and Hundley crossed the plate.

“He’s really playing hard,” Weiss said of Gonzalez. “He’s done that several times this year, where he’s stayed out of a double play by hustling. It extends that inning and then that inning turns into some runs. He’s done that a number of times this year. He’s turned into a leader and he’s having a great year.”

Gonzalez added a two-run double in the sixth, and Mark Reynolds followed later with a run-scoring single to put the Rockies up 7-0.