Rockies All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado enjoyed a career day at the plate on Wednesday in an 18-4 rout of the San Diego Padres. The reigning back-to-back NL home run and RBI champ was 5-for-6 with seven RBIs and three home runs, becoming the first player in Rockies history to produce such a stat line.
He also joined legendary first baseman Andres Galarraga as the only Rockies player to hit a home run in three consecutive innings. He came one hit shy of matching Galarraga for the franchise record of six hits in a game.
Arenado’s blasts came in the fourth, fifth and sixth inning Wednesday. The first came off Padres starter Clayton Richard. Kevin Quackenbush surrendered the next two.
Arenado also had a pair of singles and scored four runs in the win, which clinched a series sweep.
Arenado has won the Silver Slugger award at third base each of the past two years. His 80 RBIs lead baseball, putting him back on track to again claim the MLB RBI title. His 130 and 133 RBIs in 2015 and ’16, respectively, were the best in baseball. He’s tied for the NL lead in home runs each of the past two seasons, with 42 and 41.
His three home runs Wednesday puts him at 21 on the season, well behind NL leader Giancarlo Stanton at 30. Still, at 56-41 Arenado and the Rockies claim the top Wild Card spot in the National League, a half-game ahead of Arizona.
