August 7, 2015 against the Washington Nationals
With the Washington Nationals holding on to a 4-1 lead in the eighth inning of their home game against the Rockies, Washington manager Matt Williams decided to let his right-handed setup man, Drew Storen, pitch to the red-hot Gonzalez. He would regret the decision.
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Storen issued a walk to Daniel Descalso before Jose Reyes and Nolan Arenado singled with two outs to extend the inning. Gonzalez, in the middle of a stretch that had seen him hit .371 with nine doubles and 12 homers, stepped to the plate.
Storen hadn’t given up a run in 13.1 innings of work over 14 appearances, but he had had some trouble with left-handed hitters. Gonzalez continued that struggle by blasting a 1-0 pitch over the right-field fence to give the Rockies a 5-4 lead they wouldn’t surrender.
“Made one bad pitch and [had] a fastball come over the plate to a really good hitter. It’s kind of the nature of the business,” Storen would say after the game. “So I’m going in there, I’m attacking him with what I think’s best and just trying to get soft contact, and if I would have executed the pitch and it would have stayed where it was that’s probably what I would have gotten.”
Next: Number 4: A Blooper Turns Into A Rockies Win