Jon Gray ‘s right arm looked dominant again on a night when Trevor Story’s appeared healed.
Both were throwing strikes — one from the mound after a few bad outings, the other from shortstop after being sidelined for a week with a sore elbow.
Gray pitched seven crisp innings and Story picked up in All-Star form right where he left off by hitting two doubles as the Colorado Rockies rolled to a 10-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday.
Colorado won its fourth straight game since being swept in Los Angeles by the NL West-leading Dodgers, who remained 1½ game ahead of the Rockies in the division. The defending NL champions won 7-4 at Arizona.
Colorado did gain ground on St. Louis, pulling within a half-game for the second wild card when the Cardinals lost to the Brewers.
“We don’t think too much, only play baseball like we can play and see what happens,” outfielder Gerardo Parra said. “We believe. We’re strong. We’re together.”
Gray (12-8) was moved up a day when scheduled starter Tyler Anderson was scratched due to shoulder tightness. Gray worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the first and only picked up steam from there. His fastball topped out at 97 mph for the first time in several starts.
The right-hander’s one costly mistake was an elevated fastball that Rhys Hoskins hit for a homer in the seventh when the game was out of reach. Gray ended his night by striking out Scott Kingery to finish the inning and left to a round of applause.
“I felt like it was more of myself tonight,” Gray said. “It was more aggressive and attacking the zone. That’s where I need to be.”
The Rockies cranked up the offense to open a four-game series against a Phillies team that has been eliminated from postseason contention. David Dahl lined a two-run homer in the fourth, Tony Wolters drew four walks and Charlie Blackmon had a single to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 16 games.
Story didn’t miss a beat in his return after missing a week with inflammation in his right elbow. His presence was felt at the plate with two hard-hit doubles to center and in the field, where he turned two double plays.
“He came out of a nine-inning game fine. That was a confidence-builder for Trevor,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He went through the game and played hard, swung hard, threw the ball hard. We feel good about where Trevor is.”
Colorado jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third as Nolan Arenado and Parra delivered run-scoring singles off Zach Eflin (11-8). Wolters and Gray each drew a bases-loaded walk from reliever Austin Davis. Another run scored on a wild pitch.
Eflin lasted 2 2/3 innings and allowed five runs before leaving with some tightness in his left side. He’s heading back to Philadelphia on Tuesday to get it checked out.
“I felt like the right thing to do with the great season he is having was to get him out of there and out of harm’s way,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. “It was a tough decision but I wanted to protect him and his long-term health and well-being.”
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Vince Velasquez (9-11, 4.59 ERA) makes his second start this season against Colorado on Tuesday. He beat the Rockies on June 14 by allowing two runs over 6 2/3 innings.
Rockies: Starter-turned-reliever Chad Bettis (5-2, 5.18 ERA) will once again start and throw between 30 and 50 pitches before turning things over to a fresh bullpen courtesy of Gray going deep into Monday’s game.
AROUND THE MAJORS MONDAY
–Meanwhile, the Brewers are a step closer to claiming the first NL wild card following a 6-4 triumph over the Cardinals. Bud Norris threw away a pickoff attempt to bring home Eric Thames with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. Milwaukee rallied after Jose Martinez and Marcell Ozuna homered in the sixth to put St. Louis ahead, 4-3. Ryan Braun hit a solo homer and worked out a bases-loaded walk as Milwaukee moved three games ahead of the Redbirds with five to play. The Brewers also pulled within 1 1/2 games of the NL Central-leading Cubs.
— Pitcher Cole Hamels slammed his second career home run, but it was the only scoring for the Cubs in a 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh. Jameson Taillon gave up one run and five hits in seven innings to improve to 5-0 in his past seven starts. Francisco Cervelli hit a two-run homer against the Cubs, who still have a magic number of two for clinching their fourth consecutive playoff berth.
— The Dodgers earned a 7-4 win at Arizona as David Freese went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer. Clayton Kershaw worked six innings but left the game trailing 3-2 before picking up his ninth win. Manny Machado drove in a pair and provided the go-ahead RBI in the seventh as Los Angeles won for the sixth time in seven games.
— Mookie Betts belted his career-high 32nd home run and Nathan Eovaldi made a case for a spot in the Red Sox’s playoff rotation by fanning 10 over five innings of a 6-2 win over the Orioles. The Red Sox improved to a major league-best 106-51 breaking the old club mark for wins set in 1912. The Orioles absorbed their 111th loss, matching the franchise record set by the 1939 St. Louis Browns.
— Oakland learned it was going to the playoffs berth before Khris Davis launched his major league-leading 46th home run in a 7-3 victory at Seattle. Jonathan Lucroy, Jed Lowrie and Matt Chapman also homered for the Athletics, who are in the postseason for the first time since 2014. The A’s remain 1 ½ games behind the Yankees for the first AL wild card.
— The Athletics wrapped up an AL wild-card berth when the Rays fell to the Yankees, 4-1. Winning pitcher Sonny Gray worked two innings of relief and combined with seven others on a two-hitter. Andrew McCutchen led off the game with a homer, but the score was tied 1-1 in the fifth until Brett Gardner hit an RBI single and scored on Giancarlo Stanton’s double.
— Josh Reddick and Brian McCann hit consecutive solo homers in the second inning and Dallas Keuchel labored through five frames of the Astros’ 5-3 victory at Toronto. The Blue Jays got within 4-3 against Keuchel before Jose Altuve delivered an RBI single in the ninth. The Astros’ magic number to win the AL West is two over Oakland.
— Corey Kluber picked up his 20th victory and Brandon Guyer hit a go-ahead solo homer in the seventh as the Indians shut out the White Sox 4-0. Kluber was sharp over seven innings, striking out 11 and yielding just four hits. Adam Rosales added a solo homer to spark Cleveland’s three-run ninth.
— Jose Briceno led off the bottom of the 11th with a pinch-hit homer to send the Angels past the Rangers, 5-4. Shohei Ohtani hit his 21st homer in the first inning and Michael Hermosillo added his first career homer for Los Angeles. The Angels stopped a five-game skid hours after longtime skipper Mike Scioscia said he’d like to manage next season.
— The Nationals were 7-3 winners against the Marlins as Anthony Rendon smacked a two-run homer and had four RBIs. Brycer Harper drove in his 100th run of the season, rookie Juan Soto hit his 23rd homer and Matt Wieters added a solo blast for Washington.
— Bryan Mitchell came within one out of his first career complete game and Franmil Reyes drove in a pair as the Padres shut out the Giants, 5-0. Jose Pirella homered to back Mitchell, who scattered seven hits and had seven strikeouts before leaving with the bases loaded in the ninth.