Nolan Arenado put on a Memorial Day display of powerful hitting and dazzling fielding. But it was his execution of a fundamental — a sacrifice fly in the ninth — that gave the Rockies their third straight victory, 5-4, over the Reds before 20,516 at Great American Ball Park on Monday. It was Cincinnati’s ninth straight loss.
Arenado had three hits, including an RBI single in the first and his ninth homer of the year in the fourth, off Reds starter Jason Marquis. The sacrifice fly came off Aroldis Chapman (2-3) and made a winner of Rafael Betancourt (2-1). John Axford earned his seventh save. Arenado also made several notable defensive plays.
“I just want to do what I can. When I have the opportunity to drive runs in, I’m going to do my best to do it,” Arenado said. “It’s not going to work out every time.”
Couple Monday with a 4-for-5 performance with a homer and a double against the Giants in a home victory on Sunday and Arenado has seven hits in his last nine at-bats, with six RBIs.
“His defense is always elite, every day,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “He had gone through a tough stretch offensively, but he’s definitely beyond that.”
Rockies starter Eddie Butler rebounded from two short starts (5 2/3 innings total) with six innings, allowing four runs on nine hits, his blemishes coming on home runs by Todd Frazier and Marlon Byrd.
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