DENVER -- Nolan Arenado emphatically put his recent slump behind him and moved into the National League home run lead. In the process, he became the seventh player to reach 100 homers at Coors Field -- all on one fifth-inning swing during Friday night's 3-1 victory over the Athletics.
Arenado sent left-hander Sean Manaea's 90.6-mph, 1-1 fastball a projected 454 feet, according to Statcast™, into the left-field stands with an exit speed of 106 mph. It was Arenado's 26th of the season -- one more than the Brewers' Jesus Aguilar, the Cardinals' Matt Carpenter and the Nationals' Bryce Harper.
After coming into the game in a 1-for-15 rut over his previous four games, Arenado singled off the glove of Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien in the third inning. In the fifth, after Ian Desmond singled in a run but was thrown out trying to advance to second, Arenado was happy to jump on a fastball from the tricky Manaea.
"His split/change, whatever that thing was, was nasty," Arenado said. "I just tried to get something up. I told myself, 'It doesn't look like I'm going to hit the changeup, so don't miss the fastball.'
"He made a mistake. He was trying to go in and he missed out, over. I was able to take advantage of it."
Arenado also became the seventh player to hit 100 homers at Coors Field. The all-time leader, Todd Helton, who had 227 in a 17-season career, witnessed Arenado's homer from a suite at the ballpark on Friday. Others to surpass 100 clouts at home for the Rockies were Larry Walker (154), Carlos Gonzalez (138), Vinny Castilla (131), Dante Bichette (110) and Troy Tulowitzki (106).
"It means a lot," Arenado said. "I thank God that I am able to stay healthy to go out, go play and compete here. It's a great place to hit. I love playing here."
Arenado's homer - the 174th of his career -- accounted for his 580th career RBI, which broke a tie with Andres Galarraga for seventh in club history.