Diamondbacks' Paul Goldschmidt reaches 1,000 hits in win over Rockies

Paul Goldschmidt appeared insulted. Someone had dared to ask him a question about a personal accomplishment. The question, to be precise, was whether he cared to reflect on his 1,000th hit, a milestone he reached in the third inning of Wednesday night’s 8-2 win over the Colorado Rockies.

“No,” he said, pausing momentarily. “I don’t care.”

All Goldschmidt said he cared about was the fact the Diamondbacks were able to notch their 84th win of the season. It wasn’t a desperately needed victory. But it did have a calming effect for a team that had seen its ever-fluctuating lead in the wild-card race shrink to three games the night before.

Though, of course, in typical fashion, Goldschmidt didn’t really view it that way.

“Each game counts the same,” he said. “It’s good to get the win, but I don’t think it meant any more or less.”

It sort of did. With the victory, the Diamondbacks clinched the season series over the Rockies, winning for the 10th time in 18 games with one game still remaining. If the clubs finish with identical records, that distinction could come in handy as a tiebreaker, perhaps to assure themselves home-field advantage in the one-game wild card.

Patrick Corbin logged 6 2/3 strong innings, allowing just one run. The Diamondbacks supported him with a 16-hit attack – their most in nearly three months – getting multi-hit games from a trio of key players whose bats had gone quiet in recent weeks.

David Peralta doubled twice in the first two innings, scoring a run and driving in another. Jake Lamb singled and doubled, driving in his 100th and 101st runs of the year, his first time reaching the century mark. And A.J. Pollock had three hits, including a three-run shot in the seventh that broke the game open.

Goldschmidt’s line drive double off the center field wall – and the subsequent ovation he received from the Chase Field crowd – was the warm and fuzzy moment from the evening. But his brief session with reporters on the topic wouldn’t be described as such. For a moment, it was a bit testy, though Goldschmidt did briefly turn philosophical.

“Plus, it’s just an arbitrary number,” Goldschmidt said. “Why does 1,000 mean anything?”

He has a point. He’s just the second Diamondbacks player to reach 1,000 hits – Luis Gonzalez notched 1,337 of his 2,591 hits with the organization – but he’s also the 1,188th player in baseball history to do so.

“I went to congratulate him,” manager Torey Lovullo said, “and he kind of just pushed me aside.”

There was at least one light-hearted moment in the Diamondbacks clubhouse after the game, but it’s sounds like the players had their wires crossed on whether it was supposed to remain behind closed doors.

Moments before Corbin began his postgame interview, Lamb yelled from across the clubhouse for him to put on his jersey. Corbin smiled, reached into his locker and pulled out a Randy Moss No. 84 Minnesota Vikings jersey.

“I don’t really know the best way to explain it,” Corbin said. “I guess I’m the player of the game? Someone voted for me.”

Corbin went on to explain that after victories the Diamondbacks play DJ Steve Porter’s “One Clap,” a seven-year-old mash-up song comprised of Moss sound bites. Apparently, as a sort of ode to Moss, the Diamondbacks have decided to pass around the jersey to star of the game.

Some players didn’t seem particularly happy to discover reporters were made aware of their postgame awards system. One described it as “clubhouse confidential” material.

“That’s kind of our thing,” Pollock said. “You’re going to have do some snooping around. You’re not going to get anything from me.”

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Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.