{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
Major League Baseball
Colorado 9, Arizona 4
When: 8:40 PM ET, Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Where: Coors Field, Denver, Colorado
Temperature: 87°
Umpires: Home - Mike Everitt, 1B - Chris Segal, 2B - Tim Timmons, 3B - Todd Tichenor
Attendance: 20574

DENVER -- Carlos Gonzalez found a way to make his highlight-reel catch forgettable.

The Colorado right fielder subsequently hit two homers, including a go-ahead grand slam, and drove in a career-high seven runs Wednesday night as the Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-4.

The Rockies earned a split of the four-game series -- breaking a four-series losing streak at Coors Field -- and sent the Diamondbacks to their eighth loss 11 games. Colorado matched its season high with 18 hits.

Gonzalez's grand slam came with no outs in the seventh inning on a 1-1 slider from Keith Hessler, a left-hander who was recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Reno and was brought in to face Gonzalez. It was Gonzalez's fourth career grand slam and second this season.

In the first inning, Gonzalez made a sliding catch of center fielder A.J. Pollock's drive. The grab resulted in a sacrifice fly to end an 11-pitch at-bat after starter Jon Gray found himself with no outs and runners on first and third to begin the game.

The catch became almost an afterthought thanks to Gonzalez's slugging exploits.

"He made a heck of a play early in the game," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "He's one of those guys, one of the freaks in the league that can do something to wow you on any given night. He certainly did tonight."

The Diamondbacks took a 4-3 lead in the sixth. Shortstop Chris Owings, who had three hits and two RBIs, doubled home a run against Gray, stole third and scored when left fielder Ender Inciarte grounded out against Christian Friedrich.

The Rockies loaded the bases in the seventh against Randall Delgado (5-4) on singles by pinch hitter Cristhian Adames and center fielder Charlie Blackmon and a walk to shortstop Jose Reyes.

Gonzalez had never faced Hessler, and all he knew came from the scouting reports -- a lefty with a 95 mph fastball and a slider.

"In that situation, I didn't want to get jammed," Gonzalez said, "(and wanted to) get the barrel out. He decided to go with all sliders. It was a good pitch, but I was able to throw my hands in and put it in the seats. It was going down and going away from me, but I got the barrel out front."

Matt Reynolds, Arizona's only other left-handed reliever, was unavailable. He pitched the previous two days, his fifth and sixth appearances for the Diamondbacks since undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2012, so the team turned to Hessler. In nine appearances with Arizona totaling 5 1/3 innings, Hessler has now allowed three homers.

"He's just going to have to get the ball down and hit his spots better," Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said. "He got the swing and miss on the first breaking ball down and away (to Gonzalez), and then he just hung it.

"It's inexperience. It's hard to put him in that situation, knowing that when we sent him down he'd had a hard time with (allowing home runs), but Matt Reynolds was not available today ... (and we) wanted to match up. It just didn't go well."

After Reyes singled with two outs in the eighth, Gonzalez belted his 33rd home run to tie teammate Nolan Arenado for the National League lead.

Arenado hit his 33rd homer in Colorado's three-run first, a two-run shot that followed Gonzalez's sacrifice fly and gave Arenado 100 RBIs for the season. The third baseman is the first Rockies player to drive in 100 runs since Troy Tulowitzki had 105 RBIs in 2011.

Arenado has homered in three straight games, tying the longest streak of his career. He also homered three games in a row this season from May 30 to June 1.

"He's 24 years old," Weiss said. "There's a lot of good stuff coming. Pretty special player."

The winning pitcher was Brooks Brown (1-2), who was recalled Wednesday and pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings. Justin Miller, who retired the final five batters, earned his first career save.

Gray, who is on an innings limit, left after throwing 79 pitches in 5 1/3 innings. He allowed a career-high 10 hits and four runs with two walks and one strikeout. Gray threw first-pitch strikes to 19 of 26 batters but never retired the side in order.

"It wasn't very good," Gray said of his outing. "I just didn't have the feel for anything. Still, I tried to battle and strand as many runners as possible."

NOTES: Diamondbacks 1B Paul Goldschmidt flew back to Phoenix after Tuesday night's game to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. He will rejoin the team in Chicago but could miss Friday's game against the Cubs. ... Arizona RHP Zack Godley will be recalled from Double-A Mobile to start Friday at Chicago. ... Diamondbacks LHP Kevin Hessler was recalled from Triple-A Reno. ... The Rockies recalled RHPs Brooks Brown and Justin Miller from Triple-A Albuquerque. ... Diamondbacks RHP Jeremy Hellickson (strained left hamstring) threw 67 pitches Tuesday in a simulated game in Scottsdale, Ariz. ... Arizona swept doubleheaders from Colorado on May 6 and Tuesday to become the first team to sweep two doubleheaders from the same opponent in one season since 2012, when Minnesota swept two doubleheaders against Kansas City. ... In his first rehab start since undergoing Tommy John surgery July 24, 2014, Rockies RHP Tyler Chatwood pitched two innings for Class A Modesto and allowed three hits and one run in two innings.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Arizona   Colorado
Chase Anderson Player Jonathan Gray
No Decision W/L No Decision
5.0 IP 5.1
5 Strikeouts 1
8 Hits 10
5.40 ERA 6.75
Hitting
Arizona   Colorado
Chris Owings Player Jose Reyes
3 Hits 3
2 RBI 0
0 HR 0
4 TB 3
.750 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Arizona 10 0 15 .303 13 4 4 3 2 1
Colorado 18 3 29 .450 16 5 9 1 1 0