Diamondbacks look to end Rockies' win streak (Jun 21, 2017)
DENVER -- After a miserable start to the season and a recent prolonged slump, Carlos Gonzalez is regaining his form for the Colorado Rockies.
What might that mean for a team with a 47-26 record, a team that has won six straight -- one shy of its season high -- and 12 of its past 15 games?
"We're just waiting for him to get going," said Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, whose two-run triple in the eighth gave the Rockies a 4-3 win Tuesday over the Arizona Diamondbacks. "I think we have a chance to be one of the best teams in the major leagues. We are right now, but we have a chance to take it another level when CarGo gets going. Everyone in the league knows CarGo and they know how hot he can get."
In Tuesday's win, Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with his first homer, extra-base hit or RBI since June 6 when he connected against Cleveland's Mike Clevinger before going into an 0-for-27 slump. Gonzalez ended that tailspin Friday and has gone 5-for-14 in his past four games. The two-hit game was Gonzalez's first since May 25 when he was hitting a season-high .256. Gonzalez is hitting .224.
He will try to continue his ascent when the Rockies, who are 17-7 in series openers, and Diamondbacks meet Wednesday. Jeff Hoffman (4-0, 2.25) will start for Colorado against Arizona's Taijuan Walker (5-3, 3.32).
Hoffman was not involved in the decision in his last start Thursday against San Francisco. He threw a career-high 103 pitches and gave up seven hits and two walks in five innings but just one run while striking out two, his fewest number of strikeouts in five starts -- all of which the Rockies have won.
In that game against the Giants, Hoffman said he struggled to locate his fastball and curve and was fortunate enough to have a decent changeup but was not dwelling on the particulars of that outing when he threw his bullpen session Saturday.
"It's one of those things where you try not to harp on the negatives, too much," said Hoffman, who has six walks, 36 strikeouts and an opponents' average of .202. "So my 'pen, I just went out there and kind of forgot about the last outing. I worked on my tempo. I worked on my rhythm, and I tried to execute as many pitches as possible, which is really what I try to do every bullpen. I wasn't going to go crazy and say, 'Oh man, I only went through five innings and didn't have a great command.' I wasn't going to go crazy about it."
Hoffman is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA against the Diamondbacks, having faced them Sept. 14 at Chase Field when Hoffman was a much less confident and more vulnerable major league pitcher. Walker is 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA in his past two starts, including Wednesday at Detroit, where he allowed one earned run in five innings. That was Walker's first outing after being on the 10-day disabled list from May 21-June 13 with a blister on his right index finger. Walker is 2-1 with a 2.77 ERA in two career starts against the Rockies and lost to them May 7 at Coors Field. He gave up seven hits and three runs (one earned) in 5 2/3 innings as the Diamondbacks fell 5-2.
The Diamondbacks are third in the National League West, two games behind the Rockies, who lead Los Angeles by a half game. Tuesday's loss ended Arizona's season-high seven-game winning streak and was just its second defeat in 12 games dating from June 6.
When that surge began, the Diamondbacks were in third place, two games behind the Rockies and one back of the Dodgers.
"We've been winning games and not gaining ground," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "But we love that. We love the fact that we're preparing ourselves for battles every single day. That's what you want to do to have a successful August and September. You want to say that you're battle-tested."
