Yonathan Daza was not going to be denied. Not this time.

The center fielder closed out the Rockies’ 7-6 victory over Washington on Sunday with a diving catch on a hard line drive off the bat of speedy CJ Abrams. Had Daza not made the catch, the ball might have rolled to the wall, Dominic Smith certainly would have scored from first to tie the game, and there was a chance that Abrams could have given the Nationals an 8-7 lead with an inside-the-park home run.

Manager Bud Black called the play a “game saver.” Daza knew he had to make a play.

“Finally, I made a big catch and it was a lot of fun,” he said. “I contributed to the team defensively and I feel really good about that. Every time the ball is in the outfield I’m going to go hard after it. I want to catch every ball out there.”

In the third inning of Colorado’s 7-6 loss to the Nationals on Saturday night, Victor Robles led off with a blooper to center where Daza raced in to make a sliding catch. But the ball came out of his glove as he rolled over and umpire Cory Blaser ruled that Daza had dropped the ball. The Rockies challenged the call via replay but lost the challenge.

“This time, I made sure I held up the ball to make sure (the umpire) knew I caught the ball,” Daza said with a giant grin.

B-Rod’s hardware. Brendan Rodgers is finally in possession of his Gold Glove. The second baseman received it Sunday during a pregame ceremony.

Back in November, at the official Gold Glove Award ceremony in New York, Rodgers wanted to pack up his trophy and take it home to Florida. But he was told by Steve Cohen, the director of pro baseball services for Rawlings, that he’d have to wait a few months to take possession. First, the Rockies had to hold a ceremony in front of the Rockies’ crowd.

“Steve said, ‘We’ve been doing it like this for the past 40 years,’ ” Rodgers recalled. “I said, ‘Well, I guess I can’t wait then.’ ”

It was worth it. Rodgers was all smiles when he was given the trophy, which is a glittering replica of the glove he used last season. Rodgers became the eighth player in franchise history to win a Gold Glove and joined DJ LeMahieu as the only Rockies second baseman to win the award. Rodgers’ 22 defensive runs saved led all second basemen and ranked second among major leaguers.

For Rodgers, who injured his left shoulder during spring training and then underwent surgery that could keep him sidelined for the entire season, the Gold Glove trophy will serve as a pick-me-up.

“It’s going to stay with me here in Denver throughout the season so I can wake up and look at it and admire it because I don’t get to play right now,” Rodgers said. “At the end of the season, I will just ship it home with me. I’ll keep it as safe and secure as possible.”

Balk talk. Starter Ryan Feltner was charged with two balks in the second inning, one resulting in a run. It was just the third time in Rockies history that a pitcher balked twice in the same inning, the first two coming in 2013 (Rex Brothers and Wilton Lopez).

But there were extenuating circumstances to Feltner’s balk on Sunday. He was attempting to signal to catcher Elias Diaz using the electronic Pitchcom device on his belt. However, home plate umpire Ron Kulpa ruled that Feltner was beginning and stopping his motion with his foot still on the pitching rubber.

“He was the rubber and his right hand moved up to change the pitch, and that got him,” manager Bud Black said. “That’s something we addressed with the umpires in spring training and it’s a little tricky. I think MLB and the umpires and the managers and coaches are going to have to talk about this one.”

Added Feltner: “It was something I had done all of spring training. The first one today I (understood) because I moved my foot a little bit. The second one, I had done that all spring training, so I hope that gets figured out.”

Pitching Matchup

Cardinals LHP Steven Matz (0-1, 6.75 ERA) at Rockies RHP German Marquez (1-1, 4.76)
6:40 p.m. Monday, Coors Field
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM

Marquez’s next win will be his 65th with the Rockies, moving him past Jeff Francis for the most wins in franchise history. The right-hander is coming off a loss against the Dodgers in Los Angeles where he allowed four runs over 5 1/3 innings, striking out four and walking two. He is 2-2 with a 2.83 ERA in eight career starts against the Cardinals. Last season, Marquez was 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA with four walks and 10 strikeouts in two starts against St. Louis.

Matz is coming off a tough start against the Braves, giving up four runs over his first three innings and tying a career-high by yielding 10 hits. He’s making his eighth career start against the Rockies (1-5-, 7.22 ERA) and his fourth at Coors Field, where he’s 0-2 with a 9.20 ERA. He struck out 10 over six innings in his only win against the Rockies, that victory coming on June 8, 2019, with the Mets at Citi Field.

• Tuesday: Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (0-1, 9.64) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (2-0, 0.00), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
• Wednesday: Cardinals RHP Jack Flaherty (1-1, 1.80) at Rockies RHP Jose Urena (0-2, 14.40), 1:10 p.m., ATTRM
• Thursday: Off day

Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.

Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.