DENVER -- C.J. Cron flicked his bat away and nodded toward the Rockies’ dugout as the second of what bacon-saved starting pitcher Chad Kuhl called “three-pointers” sailed into the Coors Field bleachers.
Cron’s homers, off Zac Gallen in the sixth and off Noé Ramirez in the eighth, provided a 6-5 victory over the D-backs on Sunday afternoon, which completed the homestand with a much-needed four wins in six games.
More importantly, the Rockies packed for a seven-game National League West road trip against the Dodgers and D-backs -- the teams they won 2 of 3 against each of during the week and weekend -- tied with the D-backs in the standings but on a quest to show that the current standings aren’t their identity.
That’s why Cron treated his 18th and 19th homers of the season as pleasant but expected drills. Of course, at 35-44, big swings and wins don’t happen nearly enough. While Cron contained his enthusiasm, the real mood was captured by Yonathan Daza (three hits), the runner at third, who threw both arms into the air in a give him six (RBIs) gesture.
In the Rockies’ previous four series in the division before this weekend, the Rockies have won three, including one on the road at San Francisco, and split one -- at San Diego, before sweeping the Padres at Coors. That’s the identity Cron and the Rockies feel, even if they know it’s going to take a sustained run if they are to truly wrap themselves in it.
“We feel like we’ve underperformed pretty much all year long,” said Cron, whose current .899 OPS makes him a candidate to represent the Rockies in the 92nd All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium on July 19. “So whatever our record is, we don’t really feel that way.
“We feel like we're a better team. For us, it’s more about proving ourselves, that we are a good team. We’re running out of time here so we’ve gotta start winning games. I think this was a good homestand.”
Before Cron’s big swings, the Rockies were looking much like, as he said, “whatever our record is.” Kuhl, who shut out the Dodgers at Coors in his previous start, was down a run until he hung a slider that David Peralta deposited for a fifth-inning grand slam -- or “a four-pointer,” in Kuhl’s lexicon -- and a 5-0 lead.
Gallen, who threw seven scoreless at Coors last Aug. 21 (interestingly, in a game the Rockies also won), in the first five frames held the Rockies to Daza’s first-inning single and two walks.
But by the sixth, the Rockies have every right to expect it from Cron, their most consistent offensive performer.
“Just look at the numbers that C.J. has put up, hitting right in the middle of our order, being durable, playing every day and producing,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Today, he put us on his shoulders.”
Cron’s shoulders were broad enough to produce the Rockies’ first performance of two three-run homers since Nolan Arenado against the Cubs on Aug. 21, 2016. Cron hit a grand slam and a two-run homer in an August game against the Marlins last season.
"Over the course of 162, there are five to 10 games like that, that you walk in the clubhouse and you’re fist-pumping and the guys are pumped,” Black said. “And you know that’s a good one. Players know that’s a good win.”
The Rockies have finished fourth in the division for three straight seasons -- years that are remembered more mostly for the trade of Arenado to the Cardinals and free-agency spurnings from Trevor Story and Jon Gray, among others. But worth remembering last year was the Rockies’ 12 walk-off wins, a club record.
This year, they’ve had just one walk-off and many games when the big hit didn’t come. After Sunday, Cron hopes the confidence from ’21 leads to a run in the rest of ’22.
“We haven’t done a good job coming back this year,” said Cron, whose three multi-homer games tie him with Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso and Rowdy Tellez for the NL lead. “The guys in this clubhouse know that whatever the score is, we have the offensive talent to win games, especially in this ballpark. So we weren’t nervous.
“We were expecting to score some runs there.”