DENVER - Nolan Arenado did not need a long night to leave a mark on his old park.
The Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman singled in the first, doubled home a run later, and led off the seventh with his 28th home run of the season Tuesday as Arizona beat the Colorado Rockies 7-2 at Coors Field. Per ESPN's box score, Arenado finished 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI while extending an on-base streak to 16 games.
The Associated Press noted that during that stretch he is batting .379 with seven homers and 14 RBI. The win kept Arizona four games behind Philadelphia for the third and final NL wild-card berth with five games left for both clubs. Colorado fell to 57-100, the first franchise to lose 100 or more in four straight seasons since the 1962-65 Mets, per the AP.
Early lead, familiar bat
Ildemaro Vargas singled to open the game against Kyle Freeland. Gabriel Moreno doubled him home, Geraldo Perdomo singled Moreno across, and Corbin Carroll doubled Perdomo in with Arenado standing on third for a 3-0 cushion before Freeland recorded the third out.
Arenado doubled again in the third and scored on Tim Tawa's two-bagger to left-center. Mickey Moniak answered with a solo homer for Colorado, and Connor Norby's sacrifice fly made it 4-2, but that was the Rockies' last push.
Moreno added a sacrifice fly in the fourth and Tawa another in the fifth. Arenado's solo shot to left in the seventh closed the Arizona scoring at 7-2. ESPN's box matches those RBI credits: Moreno two, Tawa two, Arenado, Perdomo, and Carroll one each.
Soroka sets the tone
Michael Soroka (9-5) worked seven innings, allowing two hits and one earned run with nine strikeouts and one walk on 93 pitches. In four starts against Colorado this season, the AP reported, he has given up four earned runs in 23 innings with 23 strikeouts.
Juan Morillo and Kevin Ginkel each threw a scoreless inning to finish a three-hitter. Freeland (4-11), in what the AP called his final home start of the season for the only club he has pitched for in a 10-year career, lasted three innings and allowed five earned runs on nine hits.
