PHOENIX -- In a game with a postseason feel between two playoff contenders, Nolan Arenado let his bat do most of the talking.
Arenado's tie-breaking three-run home run in the eighth inning powered the Colorado Rockies to a 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.
Arenado circled the bases, celebrated with teammates and exchanged some words with a heckling fan near the visiting dugout.
"There was a guy, he didn't stop talking the whole game. That was a pretty long game," Arenado said. "It is what it is. It was cool, man. It was fine, and he got me fired up, and lucky I was able to tell him to be quiet there for a second."
The Rockies took the first game of a key four-game series between the National League wild-card leader, Arizona, and second-place Colorado. The Rockies moved four games behind the Diamondbacks and 3 1/2 ahead of St. Louis for the second wild card slot.
Arenado drove in four runs with a double and his 33rd home run of the season, and the Rockies won their seventh straight road game and fifth overall.
Left-hander Tyler Anderson, activated from the 60-day disabled list on Sunday, pitched four scoreless innings in relief for the victory. Anderson (4-5) allowed a hit with four strikeouts.
"I thought as he (Anderson) moved into the game, his stuff was better. He started making pitches," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "You could say he was the key to the game."
The Rockies' winning rally started with two outs in the eighth. D.J. LeMahieu tripled over the top of an extreme defensive shift toward right field and Carlos Gonzalez walked against Diamondbacks reliever Jake Barrett (1-1).
Arenado's home run followed, giving him a major-league leading 123 runs batted in on the season. It was his seventh home run to give the Rockies the lead in the eighth inning or later in his career and the third of 2017.
"It was a bad slider. I didn't get exactly on top of the ball," Barrett said.
The Diamondbacks came back with two runs in the bottom of the eighth off Rockies relievers Jake McGee and Pat Neshek. Paul Goldschmidt's ground out drove in Chris Iannetta, and hot-hitting J.D. Martinez singled in A.J. Pollock to cut Colorado's lead to 5-4.
"We pressed them, they pressed us. We came out on top," Black said.
Martinez, on the same day he was named NL Player of the Week for last week when he batted .429 with seven home runs, went 3-for-4 and scored twice.
Mike Dunn got pinch hitter Daniel Descalso to fly out to deep center to end the eighth, and Greg Holland pitched a scoreless ninth for his NL-leading 40th save.
Holland stranded runners at second and third, inducing a Pollock ground out to end the game.
"We couldn't get that big hit or that big moment to push across for us," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "We had some opportunities. We just didn't do it."
Diamondbacks starter Zack Greinke allowed two runs on five hits with six strikeouts over seven innings.
Greinke, with his fifth-inning strikeout of Anderson, reached 200 strikeouts on the season for the sixth time in his career, all six times since 2009.
NO-HIT ZONE
Arenado, known for outstanding defense, made the play of the night when he dived to his right to snag a one-hopper headed down the left-field line off the bat of Pollock in the sixth. Arenado sprang to his feet and threw a one-bouncer to first base just in time for the out.
"I was just happy to stop it," Arenado said.
COOPERSTOWN BOUND
The bat that Martinez used to hit four home runs at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 4 was packed up at Chase Field and sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in New York on Monday.
EXTRA-BASE BLACKMON
The Rockies' Charlie Blackmon, with his first-inning double, became the sixth leadoff hitter since 1914 to collect 80 or more extra base hits in a season.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rockies: Starting pitcher Kyle Freeland was struck in shoulder by a line drive off the bat of Martinez in the top of the fourth, and left the game after being checked by a trainer. The Rockies announced later that Freeland had a left shoulder contusion, and Freeland said he also felt the impact on his jaw.
Freeland said he was OK after the game, though he expected soreness.
"Don't throw fastballs down the middle," he said.
UP NEXT
Rockies: RHP Jon Gray (7-4) has a 2.55 earned run average over his last seven starts, but he's 1-2 with 5.40 career ERA against Tuesday's foe, Arizona.
Diamondbacks: RHP Taijuan Walker (9-7) faces Colorado with the Diamondbacks having won in each of his past four starts.
Arenado's tie-breaking three-run home run in the eighth inning powered the Colorado Rockies to a 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.
Arenado circled the bases, celebrated with teammates and exchanged some words with a heckling fan near the visiting dugout.
"There was a guy, he didn't stop talking the whole game. That was a pretty long game," Arenado said. "It is what it is. It was cool, man. It was fine, and he got me fired up, and lucky I was able to tell him to be quiet there for a second."
The Rockies took the first game of a key four-game series between the National League wild-card leader, Arizona, and second-place Colorado. The Rockies moved four games behind the Diamondbacks and 3 1/2 ahead of St. Louis for the second wild card slot.
Arenado drove in four runs with a double and his 33rd home run of the season, and the Rockies won their seventh straight road game and fifth overall.
Left-hander Tyler Anderson, activated from the 60-day disabled list on Sunday, pitched four scoreless innings in relief for the victory. Anderson (4-5) allowed a hit with four strikeouts.
"I thought as he (Anderson) moved into the game, his stuff was better. He started making pitches," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "You could say he was the key to the game."
The Rockies' winning rally started with two outs in the eighth. D.J. LeMahieu tripled over the top of an extreme defensive shift toward right field and Carlos Gonzalez walked against Diamondbacks reliever Jake Barrett (1-1).
Arenado's home run followed, giving him a major-league leading 123 runs batted in on the season. It was his seventh home run to give the Rockies the lead in the eighth inning or later in his career and the third of 2017.
"It was a bad slider. I didn't get exactly on top of the ball," Barrett said.
The Diamondbacks came back with two runs in the bottom of the eighth off Rockies relievers Jake McGee and Pat Neshek. Paul Goldschmidt's ground out drove in Chris Iannetta, and hot-hitting J.D. Martinez singled in A.J. Pollock to cut Colorado's lead to 5-4.
"We pressed them, they pressed us. We came out on top," Black said.
Martinez, on the same day he was named NL Player of the Week for last week when he batted .429 with seven home runs, went 3-for-4 and scored twice.
Mike Dunn got pinch hitter Daniel Descalso to fly out to deep center to end the eighth, and Greg Holland pitched a scoreless ninth for his NL-leading 40th save.
Holland stranded runners at second and third, inducing a Pollock ground out to end the game.
"We couldn't get that big hit or that big moment to push across for us," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "We had some opportunities. We just didn't do it."
Diamondbacks starter Zack Greinke allowed two runs on five hits with six strikeouts over seven innings.
Greinke, with his fifth-inning strikeout of Anderson, reached 200 strikeouts on the season for the sixth time in his career, all six times since 2009.
NO-HIT ZONE
Arenado, known for outstanding defense, made the play of the night when he dived to his right to snag a one-hopper headed down the left-field line off the bat of Pollock in the sixth. Arenado sprang to his feet and threw a one-bouncer to first base just in time for the out.
"I was just happy to stop it," Arenado said.
COOPERSTOWN BOUND
The bat that Martinez used to hit four home runs at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 4 was packed up at Chase Field and sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in New York on Monday.
EXTRA-BASE BLACKMON
The Rockies' Charlie Blackmon, with his first-inning double, became the sixth leadoff hitter since 1914 to collect 80 or more extra base hits in a season.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rockies: Starting pitcher Kyle Freeland was struck in shoulder by a line drive off the bat of Martinez in the top of the fourth, and left the game after being checked by a trainer. The Rockies announced later that Freeland had a left shoulder contusion, and Freeland said he also felt the impact on his jaw.
Freeland said he was OK after the game, though he expected soreness.
"Don't throw fastballs down the middle," he said.
UP NEXT
Rockies: RHP Jon Gray (7-4) has a 2.55 earned run average over his last seven starts, but he's 1-2 with 5.40 career ERA against Tuesday's foe, Arizona.
Diamondbacks: RHP Taijuan Walker (9-7) faces Colorado with the Diamondbacks having won in each of his past four starts.
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Colorado - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Zack Greinke pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Blackmon doubled to right. | 0 | 0 |
| LeMahieu struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| González grounded out to second, Blackmon to third. | 0 | 0 |
| Arenado lined out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Kyle Freeland pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Peralta grounded out to first. | 0 | 0 |
| Iannetta struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Pollock lined out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Zack Greinke pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Parra grounded out to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Story struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Reynolds struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Kyle Freeland pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Goldschmidt lined out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Martinez doubled to deep left. | 0 | 0 |
| Drury walked. | 0 | 0 |
| Rosales grounded out to first, Martinez to third, Drury to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Marte intentionally walked. | 0 | 0 |
| Greinke reached on infield single to pitcher, Martinez scored, Drury tagged out at home, Marte to second. | 0 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Zack Greinke pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Lucroy tripled to deep center. | 0 | 1 |
| Freeland grounded out to second. | 0 | 1 |
| Blackmon struck out swinging. | 0 | 1 |
| LeMahieu singled to right, Lucroy scored. | 1 | 1 |
| González struck out swinging. | 1 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Kyle Freeland pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Peralta grounded out to first. | 1 | 1 |
| Iannetta walked. | 1 | 1 |
| Pollock walked, Iannetta to second. | 1 | 1 |
| Goldschmidt grounded into double play, pitcher to second to first, Pollock out at second. | 1 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Zack Greinke pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Arenado flied out to right. | 1 | 1 |
| Parra grounded out to second. | 1 | 1 |
| Story flied out to center. | 1 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Kyle Freeland pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Martinez reached on infield single to third. | 1 | 1 |
| Anderson relieved Freeland. | 1 | 1 |
| Martinez to second on wild pitch by Anderson. | 1 | 1 |
| Drury grounded out to third. | 1 | 1 |
| Martinez stole third. | 1 | 1 |
| Rosales hit sacrifice fly to left, Martinez scored. | 1 | 2 |
| Marte grounded out to pitcher. | 1 | 2 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Zack Greinke pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Reynolds flied out to center. | 1 | 2 |
| Lucroy lined out to center. | 1 | 2 |
| Anderson struck out swinging. | 1 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Tyler Anderson pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Greinke struck out looking. | 1 | 2 |
| Peralta grounded out to third. | 1 | 2 |
| Iannetta flied out to right. | 1 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Zack Greinke pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Blackmon grounded out to second. | 1 | 2 |
| LeMahieu doubled to left. | 1 | 2 |
| González grounded out to first, LeMahieu to third. | 1 | 2 |
| Arenado doubled to deep center, LeMahieu scored. | 2 | 2 |
| Parra lined out to right. | 2 | 2 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Tyler Anderson pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Pollock grounded out to third. | 2 | 2 |
| Goldschmidt struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| Martinez flied out to center. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Zack Greinke pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Story grounded out to third. | 2 | 2 |
| Reynolds grounded out to third. | 2 | 2 |
| Lucroy lined out to third. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Tyler Anderson pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Drury grounded out to second. | 2 | 2 |
| Rosales struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| Marte reached on infield single to shortstop. | 2 | 2 |
| C. Walker hit for Greinke. | 2 | 2 |
| Marte to second on wild pitch by Anderson. | 2 | 2 |
| C. Walker struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| J.J. Hoover pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Hoover relieved Greinke. | 2 | 2 |
| Tapia hit for Anderson. | 2 | 2 |
| Tapia struck out swinging. | 2 | 2 |
| Chafin relieved Hoover. | 2 | 2 |
| Blackmon struck out looking. | 2 | 2 |
| Barrett relieved Chafin. | 2 | 2 |
| LeMahieu tripled to deep right. | 2 | 2 |
| González walked. | 2 | 2 |
| Arenado homered to left center (396 feet), LeMahieu and González scored. | 5 | 2 |
| Parra struck out swinging. | 5 | 2 |
| 3 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Jake McGee pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| McGee relieved Anderson. | 5 | 2 |
| Peralta flied out to left. | 5 | 2 |
| Iannetta walked. | 5 | 2 |
| Neshek relieved McGee. | 5 | 2 |
| Pollock doubled to center, Iannetta to third. | 5 | 2 |
| Goldschmidt grounded out to second, Iannetta scored, Pollock to third. | 5 | 3 |
| Martinez reached on infield single to third, Pollock scored. | 5 | 4 |
| Drury singled to center, Martinez to second. | 5 | 4 |
| Descalso hit for Rosales. | 5 | 4 |
| Blanco ran for Martinez. | 5 | 4 |
| Dunn relieved Neshek. | 5 | 4 |
| Descalso flied out to center. | 5 | 4 |
| 2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Jimmie Sherfy pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Peralta in right field. | 5 | 4 |
| Blanco in left field. | 5 | 4 |
| Descalso at third base. | 5 | 4 |
| Sherfy relieved Barrett. | 5 | 4 |
| Story doubled to deep center. | 5 | 4 |
| Reynolds grounded out to shortstop. | 5 | 4 |
| Lucroy grounded out to second, Story to third. | 5 | 4 |
| Amarista hit for Dunn. | 5 | 4 |
| Peralta in left field. | 5 | 4 |
| Blanco in right field. | 5 | 4 |
| McFarland relieved Sherfy. | 5 | 4 |
| Desmond hit for Amarista. | 5 | 4 |
| Desmond struck out swinging. | 5 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 9th | SCORE | |
| Greg Holland pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Holland relieved Dunn. | 5 | 4 |
| Marte grounded out to shortstop. | 5 | 4 |
| Lamb hit for McFarland. | 5 | 4 |
| Lamb safe at first on error by second baseman LeMahieu. | 5 | 4 |
| Hazelbaker ran for Lamb. | 5 | 4 |
| Peralta walked, Hazelbaker to second. | 5 | 4 |
| Iannetta flied out to right. | 5 | 4 |
| Hazelbaker to third, Peralta to second on wild pitch by Holland. | 5 | 4 |
| Pollock grounded out to shortstop. | 5 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| Colorado Rockies | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Blackmon CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | .338 | .404 | .617 |
| LeMahieu 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 15 | .317 | .381 | .418 |
| González RF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | .252 | .328 | .392 |
| Arenado 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | .311 | .370 | .593 |
| Parra LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | .327 | .358 | .478 |
| Story SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | .229 | .304 | .440 |
| Reynolds 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 | .268 | .355 | .496 |
| Lucroy C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | .274 | .388 | .400 |
| Freeland P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .157 | .173 | .235 |
Anderson P
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | .048 | .091 | .048 |
a-Tapia PH
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .284 | .331 | .418 |
McGee P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
Neshek P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
Dunn P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
b-Amarista PH
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .236 | .264 | .357 |
c-Desmond PH
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .274 | .324 | .367 |
Holland P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Totals | 35 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 132 | |||
| a-struck out swinging for T Anderson in the 8th b-hit for K Freeland in the 9th c-struck out swinging for A Amarista in the 9th | ||||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Blackmon (32, Greinke); LeMahieu (28, Greinke); Arenado (42, Greinke); Story (27, Sherfy) 3B: Lucroy (2, Greinke); LeMahieu (3, Barrett) HR: Arenado (33, 8th inning off Barrett 2 on, 2 Out) RBI: LeMahieu (60), Arenado 4 (123) 2-out RBI: LeMahieu, Arenado 4 Rockies RISP: 3-13 (LeMahieu 1-2, Desmond 0-1, Reynolds 0-1, Parra 0-1, Freeland 0-1, Lucroy 0-1, Blackmon 0-1, González 0-2, Arenado 2-3) Team LOB: 4 | ||||||||||
| FIELDING E: LeMahieu (7, ground ball) DP: 1 (Freeland-LeMahieu-Reynolds). | ||||||||||
Game Notes
| SP FREELAND (HIT BY LINER) LEFT GAME BOT 4TH |
Game Information
| Stadium | Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ |
| Attendance | 24,178 (49.8% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:40 |
| Weather | indoors |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Tom Hallion, First Base - Mark Ripperger, Second Base - Rob Drake, Third Base - Phil Cuzzi |
