Starting at bottom, Gray rises to top of rotation

The moment is permanently etched in Rockies right-hander Jon Gray’s memory.

Winless in 11 big league starts, having allowed 11 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings in his first two starts this season, Gray began start No. 3 by giving up back-to-back singles to Jon Jay and Wil Myers in San Diego to open the bottom of the first inning May 2, and Matt Kemp doubled them home.

Reality slapped Gray across the face.

“As I was backing up home plate following the double, I was like, `Oh, I’m gonna be on a plane to (Triple A) Albuquerque in the morning, so I might as well have fun while I’m out here tonight.'” Gray recalled. “Then I just started punching everybody out. It was great. I started to believe. I thought, `Why don’t I take this attitude out there every time?”’

Gray never did make that flight back to the Minor Leagues. Oh, he lost that game, 2-1, and then pitched seven shutout innings for a no-decision his next time out at San Francisco before finally getting his first big league victory, in his 14th start, 5-2 against the defending NL champion New York Mets on May 13.

Now it’s late September. Gray will make the next-to-last start of his rookie season on Friday night against the NL West-leading Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Albuquerque is in his rearview mirror. He has spent the summer emerging as the ace of the Rockies rotation, making that very clear last Saturday night at Coors Field when he pitched arguably the greatest game in Rockies history.

In the first complete game of his big league career, Gray, the third player taken in the 2013 draft, pitched a four-hit shutout. He struck out a franchise record 16 Padres hitters without allowing a walk, earning a Game Score of …

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