Before Tuesday night’s game, Nolan Arenado was blunt: “I’ve been terrible.”
A little harsh, perhaps? Especially considering that the Rockies’ all-star third baseman entered the night batting .308 with 29 homers and a big-league best 108 RBIs. But he was also aware he had not delivered in the clutch as of late (2-for-18 with runners in scoring position since Aug. 12) and that was gnawing at him.
But then Arenado did what all great players do. He put all of that behind him and delivered one of his biggest hits of the season, blasting a three-run homer in the seventh to secure the Rockies’ 7-3 win over Detroit. He ripped reliever Warwick Saupold’s 1-1 fastball 436 feet and deep into the left-center field seats at Coors Field.
“It was huge for us, especially after a tough game yesterday, losing, and obviously it feels good to hit a homer in that situation,” Arenado said, recalling the Rockies’ ugly 4-3 loss to the Tigers on Monday. “It feels good to homer in any situation, but especially now, because yesterday I felt like I let the team down, especially with the bases loaded when I struck out.”
Arenado became the sixth player in franchise history to put up three or more seasons with 30 home runs.
“I feel like I’ve been taking good swings,” he said. “I’ve lined out a couple times, and I feel like I’m staying the course, trying not to get down. There’s only a month left, so the last thing I’m wanting to do is getting down on myself.”
Arenado had some help from his buddy, Carlos Gonzalez, who came off the bench despite a sore left ankle to loft a pinch-hit, sacrifice fly earlier in the inning for the go-ahead run off Detroit starter Michael Fulmer. Gonzalez scored Jonathan Lucroy, who got the rally started with a single to finish off a hang-tough, 11-pitch at-bat.
“That was a great at-bat by CarGo,” Arenado said. “Fulmer’s a good pitcher, and he was tough today. To pinch-hit against Fulmer, it’s not an easy at-bat for anybody. To see CarGo foul off some fastballs, you could tell he was looking for that (split-finger fastball), and to not swing over it. And then to get it to the outfield, it was just a great at-bat.”
The Rockies gained a game on Milwaukee in the race for the National League’s second wild-card spot. The Brewers, blown out 10-2 by St. Louis on Tuesday, trail the Rockies by four games. Arizona hung on the beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6, maintaining a two-game lead over Colorado for the top wild-card spot.
Colorado’s four-run seventh-inning rally backed up a strong start by German Marquez, the 22-year-old rookie right-hander. It was so good, in fact, that it prompted a huge compliment from Lucroy, the veteran catcher.
“He’s the best pitcher I’ve ever caught at his age, I’m telling you right now,” Lucroy said. “His last name is Marquez, but I keep thinking marquee whenever I look at his name. I mean, he’s going to be a marquee pitcher and he’s going to only get better.”
Marquez appeared to be on his way to pitching a gem, until he left a 1-1 slider over the plate with one out in the seventh. Mikie Mahtook launched the mistake 421 feet to left for a two-run homer, tying the game 3-3. It looked as if the Rockies’ offensive woes might haunt them again.
Marquez was clearly upset by the turn of events in the seventh, but he pitched very well, tying a career high with 10 strikeouts and giving up just seven hits. He was efficient, too, needing only 87 pitches (63 strikes) over 6⅓ innings.
“What a game,” manager Bud Black said. “I thought German’s breaking ball was great, and it was below the zone. He got a lot of called strikes on the breaking ball, and (he had) velocity when he needed it.”
Asked how confident he feels when his curveball is working, Marquez was quick to reply.
“One-hundred percent confident,” he said. “My curveball was really good, really sharp tonight.”
The Rockies flashed their “Coors Shield” in the fifth, helping Marquez escape a jam. The Tigers already had a run on the board and had runners on first and second with out. Fulmer placed a bunt down the first-base line, where Mark Reynolds grabbed it and threw to Arenado for the force-out at third. Then Arenado gunned a Nolan Ryan fastball to second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who was covering first base. Marquez heartily applauded the three-five-four double play.
dzǰ:
LeMahieu is adding a power twist to his steady production of hits. He launched a 394-foot homer in the first inning — an opposite field shot to right, naturally — to give the Rockies a 1-0 lead out of the gate. It was LeMahieu’s seventh homer of the season and his third in his last four games. Since June 15, the defending National League batting champion is batting .356.
Colorado’s recent clutch-hitting conundrum was partially solved in the third when Gerardo Parra steered an opposite-field, two-run single to left, scoring Charlie Blackmon and LeMahieu for a 3-0 Colorado lead.
“Yesterday, we had Nolan and Parra with opportunities. It didn’t happen,” Black said, referring to the sixth inning of Monday’s when both Arenado and Parra whiffed with the bases loaded. “Tonight, Parra? Big base hit. Nolan? Three-run homer. That’s five RBIs. That’s part of what happens over six months and 162 games.”
The Rockies will try to win the three-game series from the Tigers on Wednesday afternoon at Coors Field. They have an off day Thursday before opening a big three-game series against Arizona on Friday at Coors Field.
