Gonzalez makes his pitch to join rotation

CINCINNATI -- Rockies right-hander Chi Chi González is among the candidates for the fifth spot in the Colorado rotation when needed, but he’s not looking beyond his next outing, whenever or wherever that might be.

“When I get an opportunity, I’m going to take advantage of it,” Gonzalez said after the Rockies’ 3-1 loss to the Reds on Saturday night at Great American Ball Park. “If they need me to pitch today or tomorrow, my job is to get the ball and stay in the game as long as I can. I just want to pitch.”

On Saturday night, he did plenty to strengthen his case.

• Box score

Gonzalez, called up by the Rockies from Triple-A Albuquerque to face the Reds in his fourth start of the season, allowed three earned runs -- all on home runs -- and five hits over 5 2/3 innings. He walked two and fanned three.

Unfortunately, the Rockies’ offense sputtered. But it was the second straight solid outing for a Rockies starting rotation that ranks last in the National League in ERA.

“Overall, [Gonzalez] kept us in the game,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He gave us a chance to peck away at their pitchers, we just couldn’t quite get there. But he hung in there. He kept the ball down. It’s very similar to how he’s pitched in the past.”

It was the long ball that plagued Gonzalez on Saturday. Josh VanMeter went deep for the third straight game, giving the Reds a 1-0 lead with a solo shot in the second inning. Then in the third, Eugenio Suarez’s two-run homer, a 432-foot blast into the second deck in left field, put Cincinnati ahead 3-0. Following Suarez’s homer, Gonzalez retired eight of the next 10 batters to give the Rockies a chance to mount a comeback.

“I made two mistakes,” said Gonzalez. “The walk to Votto and the curveball to Suarez, not happy with the pitch location. But he guessed right, in my eyes.”

The day after scoring 12 runs on 14 hits, the Rockies did not record a hit on Saturday night until Trevor Story’s infield single leading off the fourth. Story later scored the only Colorado run on Nolan Arenado’s sacrifice fly. The Rockies managed only five hits on the night.

“We came into it wanting to throw more curveballs and changeups, and that’s what I did,” said Gonzalez. “Just didn’t get a timely hit. Other than that, we battled.”

A poor baserunning decision cost the Rockies a scoring opportunity in the seventh.

After pinch-hitter Raimel Tapia doubled with one out, Charlie Blackmon hit a hard liner to left that was caught by Jesse Winker.

Tapia, apparently believing Blackmon’s liner was going to drop for a hit, raced around third and was easily doubled up to end the inning.

“I think that he misread the ball,” Black said. “I think he thought it was a base hit. Charlie hit the ball on the nose.”

The Rockies finished the game 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. They got back-to-back singles to begin the sixth from David Dahl and Arenado but couldn’t cash in.

“That was a big opportunity in the sixth, with first and second [and no outs],” Black said. “They just outpitched us. To Chi Chi’s case, he pitched into the sixth and gave up three runs, which a lot of times results in a team victory. Tonight it didn’t. Their pitching shut us down.”

Gonzalez likely is headed back to Triple-A, since the Rockies are sticking with a four-man rotation with two off-days during the next homestand.

Saturday’s defeat dropped his season record to 0-3 and his career Major League mark to 4-11 in 17 starts.

But there will be more opportunities for the 27-year-old, especially after Saturday’s performance.

“I’m happy with it,” Gonzalez said. “I threw the ball where I wanted to.”