Carlos Gonzalez' bat and smile return to Coors Field, Rockies win third straight

DENVER – Before Tuesday night’s contest between the Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres, it was announced that Colorado had optioned the incredible promising Raimel Tapia in favor of keeping veteran Carlos Gonzalez, and his .221 batting average, on the roster.

The move was met with much scorn and it’s easy to see why. But for one night, at least, CarGo reminded everyone why the club has shown such persistent faith in him. He drove in three in a game that was decided by two. And for the first time in a long time, the baseball cathedral that is Coors Field was lit by his mile-high smile once again.

The Rox and Pads traded body blows early, each plating three runs in the first frame. Carlos Asuaje hit a one-out double and Wil Myers drew a walk to set the stage for an RBI double off the bat of Jose Pirela. Just one run scored and after a good play at third from Alexi Amarista, Nolan Arenado‘s fill-in for the day almost made an even better play to save two runs, diving to his left and knocking down a line drive from Jabari Blash. But as he hurried to his feet, he also hurried his throw and two more runs scored as it skipped past Mark Reynolds at first.

As has often been the case during the first few months of his career, Senzatela was knocked around right out of the gate, but, also according to his normal routine, he showed mental fortitude and settled into a rhythm not allowing any further damage beyond a solo home run in the fifth.

His final line: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. He threw 52 of his 83 for strikes. A solid outing his first time back after being moved to the bullpen and then optioned to Triple-A. Those moves also likely explain why he was shut down at 83 pitches, still building back to full strength and thinking about long-term effects on the arm.

A pair of walks from Charlie Blackmon and Gerardo Parra paid off on one huge swing from Reynolds who drove one deep over the center field fence, his 20th homer of the season, to tie the game at three. It was the first time Reynolds has left the yard since June 26 against the San Francisco Giants, also a three-run shot.

And then there was silence. At least, for a few innings before the teams got back to trading punches.

Myers put the Padres back on top with a solo shot in the top of the fifth, working out some frustration for his four-strikeout night a game ago. Once again, the Rockies answered immediately in the bottom of the inning on a lead-off triple from Blackmon who scored on a sac fly by DJ LeMahieu. Blackmon would have scored either way, but the right fielder, Blash, dropped LeMahieu’s line drive, perhaps rushing a throw that had no chance, and LeMahieu reached first. Parra followed with a single that chased Padres starter Dinelson Lamet from the game.

Reynolds struck out and Gonzalez strode to the plate, which lately has meant either another strike out or a ground ball (in this case a double play) and the end of a potential rally. Not this time. Gonzalez laced a double that split the gap in right-center, scoring LeMahieu and Parra and giving the Rockies a two-run lead. Amarista later came through with a two-out single to stretch the lead out to 7-4, Colorado. Despite the early error, it was a nice night for Amarista (who also arguably could have been removed from the roster instead of Tapia) as he collected three hits and an RBI.

Blackmon’s triple gave him 12 on the season, meaning he is now not just in first place in MLB in that category but has twice as many as anyone else with three players tied at six apiece. The Rockies outfielder also still leads baseball in hits at 126.

Back came San Diego, getting two infield hits against Chris Rusin in the sixth. The runners moved up on a passed ball and came into score on a ground out and a two-out single from Matt Szczur. Jordan Lyles had to be called upon to record the final out and he did, preserving a narrow 7-6 lead.

Colorado counterpunched yet again, getting a lead-off pinch-hit walk from Pat Valaika, a two-out double from Parra and an RBI single from Gonzalez to make it 9-6. It was the fourth time Parra reached base in the game, having also walked twice and singled earlier. He drove in a run and scored three times. He is now hitting .348 on the season.

In the top of the seventh, Carlos Asuaje hit the first home run of his MLB career off of Lyles, yet another immediate scoring response, making it 9-7. Thing got incredibly tense at Coors Field as the Rockies uncharacteristically committed two infield errors, one at second, and their second of the game at third, this time from Valaika, loading the bases. Bud Black stuck with the much-maligned Lyles and it didn’t come back to haunt him as the righty induced just one more ground ball, finally getting the inning-ending double play he had earned.

There have been plenty of fair critiques of Lyles throughout the 2017 campaign and he still could find himself on the outside if the Rockies do indeed acquire bullpen help at or before the trade deadline. But you have to give the guy credit for essentially needing to induce the double play ball three different times in one inning and never letting it get away from him.

Jake McGee worked a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth and Greg Holland recorded his 30th save of the season by striking out the side in the ninth. He has arguably been the Rockies single biggest acquisition this season.

Colorado improved to 55-41 but with both the Dodgers and Diamondbacks winning have only maintained pace in both the NL West and Wild Card races.

What’s Next

The Rockies will go for a sweep against the Padres Wednesday afternoon. They hand the ball to Jon Gray who is coming off the worst outing of his career against the New York Mets on Friday. He looks to rebound against Clayton Richard who comes in sporting a 4.75 ERA.