Arenado homers in 6th consecutive game

DENVER -- For one night, at least, Nolan Arenado got the spotlight all to himself.

In the sixth inning of Colorado's 7-3 loss to the Giants on Saturday at Coors Field, Arenado launched a two-run homer to left -- which was projected by Statcast™ to land 410 feet away -- giving him a franchise-record six straight games with a long ball. Dante Bichette (Aug. 1-5, 1995) and Larry Walker (June 18-23, 1999) previously held the Rockies' record, with five; Arenado's streak is the longest in the Major Leagues since Chris Davis went six in a row in 2012 (Sept. 26 to Oct. 2).

Arenado is just the 18th player to homer in six straight games. The Major League record is eight, achieved by Dale Long (1956), Don Mattingly (1987) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1993).

Arenado also pulled even with Carlos Gonzalez for the National League home run lead, with 36. It's the first time since Tuesday that Arenado gained ground on his red-hot teammate in that regard.

"It's funny," manager Walt Weiss said. "[Arenado] has kind of been in CarGo's shadow here. CarGo's been on such a tear that he's had all the attention, and I didn't even realize that Nolan had hit home runs in six straight games.

"I knew he had been hitting a lot of them lately, and they've been playing cat and mouse with each other. Just another accomplishment for Nolan in a very young career."

Saturday's showing was yet another notch against the Giants as well. Arenado has homered nine times vs. San Francisco this season, the most in one year since Dale Murphy hit 11 against the Giants in 1983.

Arenado is having a breakout season, and his recent tear is a monumental reason why. Since Aug. 1 he is hitting .321, with 11 homers and 27 RBIs.

Gonzalez's numbers in that span are equally impressive, and the two will likely battle each other for the NL home run title until season's end.

Chalk Saturday up to the third baseman.

"It's always fun," Arenado said. "We're pulling for each other. That's the main thing. I get texts that make it seem like a competition, like, 'Who's going to win between you two?' and stuff. But there are a lot of great ballplayers in the National League that are still going off and playing well.

"But it's fun. It's always cool to see your teammate be with you there at the top."

ARENADO'S RED-HOT HR STRETCH
Saturday: 410 feet, 103.9 exit velocity, 26.1 launch angle
Friday: 410, 107, 22.1
Thursday: 401, 105, 41.1
Wednesday: 423, 103, 36.0
Tuesday (2nd HR): 434, 102, 31.5
Tuesday (1st HR): 442, 103, 27.7