BOSTON -- After a line drive single to shallow right-center field in the second inning Wednesday, Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez accomplished something that no Colorado player has done in nearly four years. He recorded a base hit against a knuckleballer.
Colorado faced a knuckleballer in Steven Wright for the first time since Aug. 20, 2012, when the Rockies squared off against R.A. Dickey.
Despite the unpredictable nature of Wright's pitches, Gonzalez had a good night against the righty during the team's 10-3 loss to the relentlessly offensive Red Sox.
"It's tough, the ball moves everywhere," Gonzalez said on facing Wright. "My approach today was the same approach. I was just going out there and swinging. I told myself, if you're going to swing, swing three times. If you're going to go down, go down swinging."
On Wednesday night, Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with two runs, collecting his second three-hit game of the season. Two of his three singles came against Wright.
Gonzalez came into the series hitless in his last 17 at-bats, but the 30-year-old has always done well in Interleague games, so it was no surprise that he began finding his stride at Fenway Park.
Since the start of 2010, Gonzalez has hit .324 in Interleague games, including a .333 mark vs. American League East teams. In fact, he has hit safely in each of his last six games against AL East clubs, batting .385 in that category.
Rockies manager Walt Weiss said he understands the difficulty of facing a knuckleballer, but thought Gonzalez did well.
"He was dancing pretty good tonight," Weiss said of Wright's knuckleball. "I thought we had a pretty solid approach against him. We knew if we got some traffic on the bases there would be some balls going to the screen, that's just how it works with a knuckleballer."