NewsGonzalez day-to-day with tight hamstring
Outfielder legs out triple in first during Tuesday's victory
By Owen Perkins / Special to MLB.com
09/23/09 3:46 AM ET
DENVER -- An inning after sparking a four-run go-ahead rally, Rockies leadoff man and left fielder Carlos Gonzalez left Tuesday's series opening 11-10 victory against the Padres with left hamstring tightness. Gonzalez opened the bottom of the first with a triple into the right-center alley, and he felt something in his hamstring as he broke out of the box. "I made contact and I was trying to go hard like I always do, and then my leg was feeling bad," Gonzalez said. "Right when I took off, I knew I was feeling pain, so I slowed down. I wasn't 100 percent. I was kind of jogging the bases. I expected to stop at second base, and then the ball just kept going off the wall. I was just jogging to third not to put any more pressure on my leg." Gonzalez was able to stroll home on a balk from Padres pitcher Edward Mujica during the next at-bat with Dexter Fowler at the plate, saving him from having to risk aggravating the hamstring further. "I was praying for that," Gonzalez said. "I was hoping Dexter would hit the ball far so I wouldn't have to run 100 percent, because I don't think I was going to be able to run 100 percent." He returned to the field in the top of the seventh, fielding one ball, a single from center fielder Tony Gwynn. When Gonzalez's spot came up in the bottom of the second, Seth Smith pinch-hit for him, lacing a double down the left-field line. The Rockies were ahead 4-2 when Gonzalez was pinch-hit for, and after losing the lead, they rallied and held on for the win. Gonzalez is hitting .280 with 12 home runs and 16 steals. He moved into the leadoff role in August when Fowler went on the DL on Aug. 24. The team is 15-5 in games that Gonzalez has hit leadoff. The gametime temperature was 48 degrees, and rain began falling in the second inning, possibly contributing to Gonzalez's hamstring tightness. "The weather [was a factor]," manager Jim Tracy said. "The grass is soaking wet, you push that and somebody hits a chopper and he has to make a quick sharp break towards the gap and pulls the hamstring -- you've lost him. If we're fortunate to get there, you've lost him for the playoffs. We weren't willing to take that chance." Though he dodged a bullet with the hamstring, Gonzalez may have had an even greater health risk watching the nail-biter as the Rockies let a five-run lead in the ninth slip to within 90 feet of a tie game. "I almost had a heart attack watching the game," Gonzalez said. "When you're winning by a lot of runs and then the tying run is at third base, it's like, 'Wow!' You never give up. You always want to keep playing hard until the last out, because they almost tied the game." His hard-nosed style of play is likely to keep him out of the lineup on Wednesday, with Tracy not wanting to take any chances on a player who has become a vital part of the Rockies' offense. "From what I heard, he would be available tomorrow, but he's going to have to be beyond 100 percent for me to take that chance," Tracy said. Gonzalez understood his manager's perspective, recognizing that "dialing it down" is not an acceptable option when he's on the field. "[Tracy] told me, 'I don't want you to hit a ground ball and jog to first, because that's not your game,'" Gonzalez said. "I always run hard and put pressure on the other guys. When you're not playing the way you play, it's not fun."Owen Perkins is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
