DENVER (AP) - Zack Greinke doesn’t like Coors Field for the very reasons teammate Paul Goldschmidt prospers.
Both are finding plenty of success.
Goldschmidt homered twice and drove in five runs, helping Greinke and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies 6-3 on Friday night.
“There are just a lot of good things for hitting here. A lot of bad things for pitching,” Greinke said.
Goldschmidt hit a solo shot in the first and a three-run drive in the third, giving him homers in three straight at-bats and his 10th career multihomer game. He later added an RBI single to continue his feast on Colorado pitching. Goldschmidt has reached safely in 57 of his last 58 games against the Rockies.
“I’m not a guy that looks at my stats,” Goldschmidt said. “You have good stats somewhere that can change in a hurry. I don’t worry too much about it. My biggest focus is just having good at-bats and hitting the ball hard.”
Greinke (3-2) allowed two runs over seven innings to help the Diamondbacks pull within a half-game of the front-running Rockies in the NL West. His biggest mistake was a belt-high fastball to Mark Reynolds, who lined it to left-center for his ninth homer.
“I hate pitching here,” said Greinke, who is 3-0 with a 4.03 ERA in nine career appearances at Coors Field. “It’s really tough.”
Greinke certainly made things tough on the Rockies. He struck out seven.
“Vintage Greinke tonight,” Reynolds said. “Just throwing his slider on the black, away. High fastballs. He was really good.”
Colorado right-hander German Marquez (0-2) was roughed up for five runs in six innings. He pitched six scoreless innings at Arizona on Sunday.
The Rockies threatened in the ninth by loading the bases off Archie Bradley with no outs. On a 2-2 count, Dustin Garneau caught a piece of a Bradley fastball that was ruled a foul tip, with catcher Jeff Mathis hanging on for a strikeout.
But Garneau was adamant that it hit his pinkie, not his bat. The play was reviewed and upheld.
“If it hits the knob of my bat, it’s going to shoot off somewhere. It’s not going to go in the catcher’s mitt like that,” insisted Garneau, whose team opened a 10-game homestand. “It’s a huge situation for us. But they missed it.”
Fernando Rodney then took over for Bradley. Pinch hitter Pat Valaika drove in a run on a grounder before Rodney retired Charlie Blackmon on a sky-high fly to earn his eighth save.
David Peralta returned to Arizona’s lineup after being limited to one at-bat during the three-game series in Washington because of an illness. He drove in a run with a grounder. A.J. Pollock finished with a triple and a double.
Marquez may have figured out the best way to handle Goldschmidt: Don’t give him anything near the strike zone. Marquez walked the first baseman on five pitches in the fifth.
Two innings later, Goldschmidt reached his bat way out for a run-scoring single. He has at least one RBI in six straight games at Coors Field.
“He hits mistakes,” Reynolds said of Goldschmidt. “He’s a really good player.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: LHP Steve Hathaway (shoulder) was transferred to the 60-day disabled list.
Rockies: OF Carlos Gonzalez (calf) was out of the starting lineup for “precautionary reasons,” manager Bud Black said.
SHORT CONVERSATION
Although first baseman/outfielder Ian Desmond has played more than 900 games at shortstop, there are no plans to trot him out to the position, even with Trevor Story struggling at the plate.
“In the short-term, no,” Black said. “That’s not to say that couldn’t happen.”
THIS & THAT
Rockies INF Cristhian Adames cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Albuquerque. … Arizona purchased the contract of OF Gregor Blanco from Triple-A Reno and optioned RHP Braden Shipley to Reno. … Arizona manager Torey Lovullo will wait a few days before announcing Tuesday’s starter against Detroit. “We’ll address our needs based on what happens over the next three days,” Lovullo said. … Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian and several of his teammates were in attendance.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: LHP Patrick Corbin (2-3, 2.29 ERA) took a no-decision in his start last Sunday against Colorado. He allowed no runs in 6 1/3 innings.
Rockies: LHP Tyler Anderson (1-3, 7.71 ERA) seeks his first win at home since Aug. 31.
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