'I hate sitting': Nolan snaps skid with 4 hits

DENVER -- Nolan Arenado returned from a day off by going 4-for-4 with a double and a sacrifice fly, though Monday’s game at Coors Field didn’t end with the type of jubilation that the club might’ve hoped for.

The Rockies’ star third baseman climbed out of his 0-for-14 slump, but Colorado couldn’t catch up with the D-backs in a 12-8 loss, which marked the first time this season that the Rockies have lost two straight. In perspective, their 11-5 start is still one of the best in team history.

• Box score

If Arenado’s three solid hits are an indication that the .185/.262/.352 slash line that he carried into the game is behind him, then the Rockies can just call Monday a bad night that begins something good. Maybe Arenado can join Charlie Blackmon, whose own 4-for-5 night extended his hit streak to 14 games and lifted his batting average to .484.

• Blackmon drawing Bonds, Brett comps

“I hate sitting, and I hate sitting because I’m not playing well enough,” Arenado said. “But it was helpful for me to get away from it a little bit. I just hit off a tee yesterday just to stay ready, but that was about it. It helped me relax.

“I don’t like days off, but they’re definitely needed sometimes.”

Despite their strong start, the Rockies have been disjointed at times -- Arenado’s slow start being an example.

While Arenado’s breakout soothed the Rockies’ night, a few other nagging problems were highlighted:

• Shortstop Trevor Story (who homered in the first inning) has four errors, and on Monday, he wasn’t charged with one on a key play. The Rockies had turned an 8-3 deficit into a one-run game by the seventh, but a hard-hit ball by Nick Ahmed, which should have been a double play, bounced off Story's glove for a two-run single.

• Center fielder David Dahl, the Opening day leadoff hitter, had two hits in Sunday’s 5-3 loss in Seattle, but he endured deflating strikeouts in his first two at-bats on Monday -- one to end the first inning with bases loaded, and the other to end a two-run third inning. Dahl also struck out on a check-swing to end the game against a bounced curve from Archie Bradley, and he finished 0-for-5 from the No. 7 spot in the order.

In a sense, a rough night from Rockies starter Jon Gray -- a first-pitch home run to Kole Calhoun and 11 hits and eight earned runs in 3 1/3 innings -- was an aberration. It ended a 21-game streak dating to last season of Rockies starters not giving up more than three runs in a start. But it also was business as usual. Gray generally pitches well at Coors Field, but on Monday he ballooned his home ERA against the D-backs to 7.80.

The only strange thing about Gray’s performance, it turns out, was the Rockies losing. As dicey as his performances have been, the club is 3-3 in games started by Gray at home against Arizona.

But maybe Monday marked a beginning for Arenado.

It seemed like he was breaking out during the last homestand, when he homered in three straight games against the Giants. But Arenado went 0-for-4 in that series finale on Thursday, and he was on an 0-for-14 skid when Rockies manager Bud Black rested him Sunday.

“Nolan hit the ball on the nose for his hits, and got the little short sac fly to get a ‘ribbie,’” Black said. “But much better swings today, much better takes. In the box, he looked on time. That was a really good sign.”

The strange part of Arenado's hitless skid was that he did not strike out once, and several of the balls off his bat were flies that seemed to have a chance only to fall softly into an outfielder’s mitt. He didn’t strike out on Monday, either -- not that he is necessarily celebrating that stat.

“There are times where I’d rather strike out than just roll a ball over to short and third,” Arenado said. “I’d rather strike out with my ‘A’ swing than with my ‘B’ swing, where I roll it over on the ground and don’t strike out.”

Still, Arenado's ability to put the bat on the ball fuels the thought that he can do some Blackmon-like streaking.

“I had the same amount of hits as him [on Monday], but that’s the only thing that’s similar to Chuck, that’s for sure,” Arenado said. “He’s in a different zone than I am, that’s for sure. Charlie’s giving me opportunities to drive him in. I have opportunities with men on base. That’s a good feeling. I haven’t done a good job at all of that this year.

“I just have to find a way to be more consistent.”