Two Rockies homer on Mother's, Father's Day

DENVER -- It's one thing to have a player hit home runs on both Mother's Day and Father's Day in the same season. It's quite another to have two players on the same team do it, one of whom hits a walk-off shot to complete the cycle and send his first-place club to a four-game sweep.
That's what happened at Coors Field on Sunday, as both Nolan Arenado and Pat Valaika homered to lift the Rockies to a 7-5 win over the Giants.
Valaika, who homered twice against the Dodgers on May 14, hit a pinch-hit, solo shot over the left-field wall off Giants starter Ty Blach in the seventh inning Sunday. Arenado, who also homered against Los Angeles on Mother's Day, drilled the first pitch he saw from San Francisco closer Mark Melancon in the ninth inning Sunday into the left-field seats to lift the Rockies to their fifth straight win.
"It's cool to say thank you and tell my parents how much I love them," Arenado said. "My mom and dad are the reason I'm here, with the way they raised me. My parents taught us respect, morals and faith. They taught me not to get too high or too low."

Arenado was putting that last teaching into practice after what he called the greatest moment of his Major League career. While Valaika's homer wasn't as dramatic, it was also very special, and the fact that three of his six Major League home runs have come between Mother's Day and Father's Day this year dawned on him as he was rounding the bases Sunday.
"I guess I'm my parents' favorite kid or something," Valaika joked. "It was fun. They made me into who I am today, and all my successes are because of them."
It was certainly a special day for fathers at Coors Field on Sunday, but for a particular pair of mothers and fathers, it was punctuated with two unforgettable swings of the bat.
"I guess I told them how much I love them with a home run," Arenado said.