He ended the team’s 0-for-11 streak with runners in scoring position by lifting a single to left that tied the game. Montgomery’s wild pitch allowed Contreras to score — and the rest was up to the relievers.

“How we’re looking at it: It doesn’t matter what your numbers are like, if you treat it like a must-win game on a daily basis, just find a way to get on base,” Donovan said. “Find a way to get a dirt ball. Find a way to tag up and take an extra base. Find a way to beat one in the ground with a runner on. Maybe hit a fly ball. Just find a way to get a run across. If you do that over the course of the long sample size, I think you’ll be happy. If we can continue to do those small things, we’ll keep it trending in the right direction.”

Said Arenado: “We’ve got to score runs. For us to get to where we want to be, we have to score more runs. It’s rare for a whole lineup to not feel good, and we’re in that rare time right now where nobody really feels good. ...

“It seems like nothing has really come easy.”

Certainly the first did not for Gibson.

The game began with a flare to left field just over the head of Arenado. Gibson missed with a pitch to the next batter and allowed a single. He remained fixated on that mistake and made another one — plunking Joc Pederson to load the bases before getting an out.

“Give up first-pitch bloop hit. I threw the wrong pitch to the next guy. Hit the next guy,” Gibson said. “You know, you just have to stay focused and remember you’ve got to execute one pitch at a time. With this defense and how I throw, I kind of always know I’m one pitch away. Just try to figure out what that one pitch is and execute it. And let the defense work.”

The pitch was a 92.8-mph sinker.

The execution was over the outside of the plate, biting down.

That pitch coaxed a double play from Eugenio Suarez that sprang Gibson from the jam. The only run he allowed after loading the bases with no outs scored on a sacrifice fly. That was the only run Gibson (2-2) allowed in his quality start. In the fourth and fifth innings, he faced a total of four batters with two runners on base. He struck out three of them to unplug rallies.

...continued

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