Diamondbacks 9, Rockies 0: Arenado's Grand Slam Against His Old Club

August 10, 2026 - Phoenix - The first pitch of the homestand was still warm when Nolan Arenado turned on a fastball up in the zone and sent it over the left-field fence.

Four runs. Nobody out in the story yet, and the night was already over. The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies 9-0 at Chase Field, and the swing that did the heaviest lifting came from a third baseman who spent his first eight big-league seasons in that other purple.

A slam with a return address

Arenado's eighth career grand slam, and his second this season, was the kind of at-bat that makes a box score feel personal. Gabriel Hughes left a heater where Arenado has been punishing baseballs for a decade. Chase Field did the rest.

Arizona did not treat the slam like a finished product. The second inning added three more. Corbin Carroll doubled in a run. Ketel Marte singled another home. Geraldo Perdomo scored on a wild pitch. Seven-nothing before Colorado had a hit that mattered, and Hughes was already looking at a line that would not survive a rewrite: four innings, seven earned runs, five hits, three walks.

Gabriel Moreno kept stacking extra bases (a triple, a double, a walk, an RBI). Ryan Waldschmidt found two hits of his own. The eighth added two more runs that nobody in the building needed for the result and everybody on the Arizona bench was happy to take. Ten hits. Eighteen total bases. Two stolen bases, one of them Arenado's. A shutout that never felt like a pitchers' duel because the game left that category in the first inning.

Arizona has owned this matchup at Chase Field for a while. The club entered Monday 21-4 in its last 25 home games against Colorado and had won eight straight home series in the rivalry. A first-inning slam from the man Colorado used to build around is how you keep a streak from becoming a trivia question.

Soroka's first night back, then Littell's debut win

Michael Soroka had not pitched in nearly two months. A strained left glute will do that. His return was not a complete-game postcard. It was better than that: 4 1/3 scoreless innings, three hits, three walks, four strikeouts. He handed a 7-0 game to a bullpen that did not have to invent drama.

Zack Littell finished what Soroka started and picked up the win in his Arizona debut. Four and two-thirds innings, two hits, no earned runs, two strikeouts. Combined, the two right-handers and whoever closed the last outs held Colorado to five hits and zero runs. The Rockies stranded six and never put a runner in a spot that made Chase Field nervous.

That is a different kind of blanking than a one-man shutout. Soroka proved he can still miss bats after the layoff. Littell proved the new club can trust him with a lead that big. Hughes, 0-4 with a 5.61 ERA after this one, proved the Rockies still do not have an answer for Arizona's home lineup.

Eight games over .500, and it finally looks like a season

Arizona is 64-56. That is eight games over .500 for the first time in 2026, and it arrived against the club Arenado used to define. The Diamondbacks have owned this matchup at home for a while. Monday made the point without needing extra innings or a late rally.

Colorado is 46-73, shut out for the sixth time this year, and has lost 10 of 14. Five singles-and-a-prayer nights against a division rival that just jumped them for seven in two innings is how a last-place club stays last. Troy Johnston had two of those five hits. The rest of the order spent the evening watching Arenado's ball clear the fence on the replay board.

I am not handing Arizona a October banner because it beat the Rockies by nine. I am interested in whether Arenado's first-inning habit against his old club is a one-off or the start of a stretch where this lineup stops waiting until the sixth to decide games. Soroka's next start will tell you more about the rotation than this one did. This one told you the offense is done being polite.

AthX Engine angle

Arizona led every team on the Monday slate with 21 AthX Engine team fantasy points. Arenado's slam-and-steal night was worth 12 hitting fantasy points, the second-best bat of the day. Littell's debut win checked in at 12.66 pitching fantasy points. Colorado finished at minus-10 team fantasy points, which is what a five-hit shutout looks like when the other club cashes a grand slam before you record an out.

Track Arenado and the Diamondbacks on the marketplace. AthX Engine scores the night. Share price is a separate market number.

*Sources: MLB.com gameday final, ESPN recap, AthX Engine daily scoring for August 10, 2026. Information only; not financial advice.*