Carlos Gonzalez waited patiently as Trevor Story finished his postgame interviews, a beer in hand to congratulate his Colorado teammate on his huge night.

More games like that from Story, and Gonzalez will be pouring champagne all over him at the end of September.

Story homered in his first three at-bats, including one projected at more than 500 feet , and the Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 on Wednesday in a game delayed 68 minutes by rain at the start.

“That was awesome,” Colorado manager Bud Black said. “Trevor took the game over.”

The All-Star shortstop had a chance to tie the major league record of four homers in a game but struck out in his final at-bat in the eighth inning.

“Everybody’s expecting a home run,” Gonzalez said. “I was like, ‘Just hit something.’ When you’re having that kind of night, I guarantee he wasn’t trying to hit the ball over the fence, and it was just clicking.”

Story powered Colorado to its fifth straight win, and the Rockies increased their NL West lead to 1 1/2 games over Arizona and Los Angeles. The Diamondbacks were off and the Dodgers lost to the New York Mets.

Colorado has been to the postseason four times but has never won a division title in its 26-year history.

“I’m more excited about the win at this point,” Story said. “Every win from here on out is huge.”

It was the first three-homer game of Story’s career and his fifth multihomer game this season. The outburst came at the expense of Giants starter Andrew Suarez (6-10).

Story’s first home run, a 459-foot shot to left field, according to Statcast, gave the Rockies a 2-1 lead in the first inning.

He topped that with another solo homer in the fourth that traveled an estimated 505 feet onto the concourse beyond the left-field stands. It was the longest homer in franchise history and the longest since Statcast began tracking distances in 2015. It just edged out the 504-foot drive Giancarlo Stanton hit in Denver when he played for Miami.

“As soon as it came off the bat I was like, ‘Oh my god, it’s going to hit the scoreboard. It’s going to go straight to my Lamborghini in the parking lot,'” Gonzalez said.

Story’s last home run — his 31st of the season — soared a projected 416 feet and gave Colorado a 4-3 lead. He popped out of the dugout for a curtain call as the crowd of 24,790 cheered.

“When you have a night like tonight it’s hard to explain,” Story said. “You kind of get these feelings, these intuitions, and you try to act on them, not outthink yourself.”

Suarez wasn’t unhappy with his outing despite the big night from Story.

“It’s crazy how baseball works,” he said. “I threw well and one guy beat me.”

Harrison Musgrave (2-3) got the win and Adam Ottavino pitched the ninth for his sixth save.

Aramis Garcia went deep for San Francisco, which has lost five in a row.

RAW POWER

Story’s first home run had a little twist to it. After he connected, he lost his balance and fell to the ground as the ball landed on the concourse in left field.

“That first one was a little different,” he said. “I’ve never fallen down like that. Maybe on a swing and a miss.”

UP NEXT

Giants: LHP Derek Holland (7-8, 3.56 ERA) will get the start when San Francisco opens a three-game series at Milwaukee on Friday. Holland is 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA in his last eight starts.

Rockies: RHP Jon Gray (11-7, 4.70) faces Clayton Kershaw when Colorado begins a crucial three-game series against the Dodgers on Friday night.

 

AROUND THE MAJORS

–Brandon Phillips had a memorable debut for the Boston Red Sox as the best team in the majors moved closer to another AL East title. Phillips unloaded a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning to complete the Red Sox’s best comeback of the season, a 9-8 stunner in Atlanta. The newly-signed Boston infielder walked and scored in two previous plate appearances before launching his first big league home run since last Sept. 26 for the Angels against the White Sox. The Bosox erased a 7-1 deficit in the eighth inning, only to give up a home run to Freddie Freeman in the bottom half.

—Atlanta still holds a three-game lead in the NL East following the Phillies’ 2-1 loss at Miami. Sandy Alcantara was sharp over a career-high seven innings, allowing three hits and striking out six. Austin Dean had two RBIs, including a run-scoring single that put Miami ahead 2-0 in the fourth.

— Zack Wheeler and Seth Lugo combined on a three-hitter as the Mets took the rubber match of their three-game set with the Dodgers, 7-3. Wheeler was hit in the chest by a line drive in the fourth inning and still managed to hold the Dodgers to three runs and three hits over seven frames, including homers by Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger. Wilmer Flores drove in two runs and Amed Rosario was 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.

— The Cubs have a bit more breathing room in the NL Central following home runs by Daniel Murphy and Kyle Schwarber in a 6-4 victory over the second-place Brewers at Milwaukee. Ben Zobrist drove in a pair of runs and Jose Quintana gave up two runs and five hits over 6 2/3 innings to move to 12-9. The Cubs lead their division by four games over the Brewers, with St. Louis another half-game back.

— Matt Adams homered twice and Marcell Ozuna tied a career high with four hits as the Cardinals outscored the Nationals, 7-6. Adams had been 3-for-23 with St. Louis before hitting two bombs against the team that traded him last month. Yairo Munoz also went deep and Miles Mikolas improved to 14-4 despite yielding four runs and 12 hits over 6 2/3s.

— The Astros easily won their fifth in a row as Alex Bregman slammed a two-run homer and a three-run double in a 9-1 pounding of the Twins. Evan Gattis also hit his 25th home run as Houston won for the 12th time in 15 games. Winning hurler Framber Valdez went 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits and three walks while striking out five.

— The Athletics clobbered the Yankees, 8-2 to stay 3 ½ games behind the AL West-leading Astros. Stephen Piscotty hit a two-run single and Matt Chapman had two RBIs to back Mike Fiers, who limited New York to two runs and three hits over six innings. Yanks starter Luis Severino was pulled in the third, charged with five earned runs on six innings to fall to 17-7.

— Corey Kluber became the majors’ first 18-game winner of the season and the Indians shaved their major number to eight for winning the AL Central by downing Kansas City, 3-1. Kluber allowed one run and two hits in 6 2/3 innings before three relievers combined to toss hitless ball. Edwin Encarnacion’s RBI grounder broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth and helped Kluber improve to 18-7.

— Nelson Cruz and Denard Span hit back-to-back home runs and the Mariners won a home series for the first time since July 22 by topping the Orioles, 5-2. Mike Leake gave up two unearned runs in six innings to earn his first victory since June 23. Edwin Diaz recorded his major league-leading 53rd save.

— The Pirates earned a 3-2 victory over Cincinnati behind Jameson Taillon, who surrendered eight hits but just one run over five innings to move to 12-9. Colin Moran doubled home the tying run in the second, an inning before Gregory Polanco and Francisco Cervelli delivered RBI singles. Homer Bailey gave up three runs over five innings to fall to 1-14.

— Shohei Ohtani was 4-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs lead the Angels’ 9-3 pounding of the Rangers. Ohtani also scored four times, hours after learning that he’ll likely need Tommy John surgery to replace his ulnar collateral ligament. Andrelton Simmons also homered and drove in three runs for Los Angeles.

— Aledmys Diaz belted a three-run homer while the Blue Jays scored seven times in the first inning of a 10-3 romp over the Rays. Billy McKinney added a solo blast and winning pitcher Aaron Sanchez struck out eight over six innings. Tampa Bay lost for only the third time in 16 games despite Kevin Kiemaier’s two home runs.

— Hot-shot rookie Michael Kopech served up gopher balls to Ronny Rodriguez, Jeimer Candelario, Mike Mahtook and Jacoby Jones in the White Sox’s 10-2 loss to the Tigers. Kopech entered the game with a 0.82 ERA in three starts before Detroit tagged him for seven runs over 3 1/3 innings Jordan Zimmermann breezed through five innings by blanking Chicago on two hits.