DENVER -- The night for Coors Field fans to appreciate the Cardinals' Nolan Arenado became a mere footnote to the week to finally celebrate the Rockies’ own catcher, Elias Díaz.

Homering for the third time this week, Díaz delivered a three-run walk-off shot off the Cardinals’ Giovanny Gallegos in the ninth inning to deliver the Rockies’ fourth straight victory, 5-2.

Arenado received a pregame video tribute and an emotional ovation before his first-inning at-bat. But the night ended with cheers ringing for Díaz, who became the first Rockies player to homer in three straight games played since … of course, Arenado, from Aug. 3-5 last season.

“I had a lot of confidence going into that at-bat -- my only plan was to see a pitch and hit it hard,” Díaz said in Spanish, with bullpen catcher Aaron Muñoz translating.

The Díaz long ball, coming on an 0-2 slider from Gallegos, followed walks to Brendan Rodgers (who launched a two-run shot of his own in the second inning, on a 2-for-3 night) and Ryan McMahon.

Díaz's first career walk-off homer gave the Rockies their Major League-leading eighth walk-off victory of the season and improved their home record to 28-16. It also added to a hot streak the catcher hopes never ends.

2021 has been an offensive struggle for Díaz and fellow catcher Dom Nuñez, as both are hitting below .200. Lately, however, Díaz has been on a roll, with Thursday's 3-for-4 performance adding up to an 11-for-28 (.393) run over his last nine games.

The prolonged struggles from the catching position have not been what the Rockies planned when they began late last season transitioning away from Tony Wolters and Drew Butera, expecting Díaz and Nuñez to add offense. So any little spark, such as the one Díaz has provided lately, is much appreciated.

“You're going to have those slumps, those down times where it's not going your way,” said Díaz, who has five homers overall. “Sometimes the confidence may go away for a little bit. But as a professional you’ve got to stay the course, keep working hard, still trying to maintain as much confidence as you can.

“It’s a long year.”

With the Trade Deadline looming on July 30, one of the Rockies' goals is to improve the catching, although that is difficult for a contending club -- much less one in fourth place because of a 6-31 road record. Catchers are even hard to come by in the offseason. Most likely, the Rockies will continue to work with the catchers they have already. And they signed Díaz, formerly with the Pirates (whom he burned with two homers this week), believing he could be a factor offensively.

“We have belief in Elias,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “When you break down his tools, when you evaluate his skills, you see the raw power. You see it in batting practice, you see it in Spring Training, you saw it in Pittsburgh when he was a Pirate, and you saw it a little bit toward the end of last season.

“So we felt -- the coaching staff and organizationally -- that it was a matter of time before his hitting skills showed up.” 

Díaz’s most visible defensive skill is his throwing, but the Rockies like his (and Nuñez’s) game-calling. Díaz stewarded Germán Márquez’s near-no-hitter on Tuesday night. Thursday, he and starter Antonio Senzatela worked through seven innings of two-run, seven-hit pitching by jettisoning a less-than-effective slider and going with fastballs spotted around the zone.

Senzatela was appreciative for the offensive support.

“The way he worked, I think he deserved that,” Senzatela said. “He is putting everything together.”

Díaz even demonstrated his in-game awareness during the ovation for Arenado, standing on the grass in front of the plate, clapping into his glove to give the fans a full 90 seconds to give love -- and provide Arenado some time to reel in his emotions.

“As a professional, and the type of player that Nolan is, he deserves that -- and then some,” Díaz said, having earned his own cheers with the way he ended the game.