DENVER — Jon Gray made it his mission this season to have fun and enjoy playing for the first time of his career. That was on full display Sunday.

Usually stoic on the mound, Gray threw up a fist pump from time to time. He did it all for the Rockies, and even cracked some smiles as the team went on to beat the Phillies 12-2. It was the most fun he’s had this season, he said. 

“Just knowing that every time I get to go out is a great thing,” Gray said. “It’s been a lot of fun. I’m being a better teammate all around. It feels really good.”

Rockies’ Elías Díaz turns heads on defense, but wants his offense to stand out too

Gray’s slider struck out six batters, while an impressive defensive play denied the Phillies a hit in the fifth inning. He was also clutch on offense, hitting a single with two outs in the fourth to extend the inning.

Gray’s only stumble came against Bryce Harper, who hit two home runs off him. The second flew 468 feet into the center field stands. Gray pitched six innings, allowing four hits and two runs.

“I feel good about it overall,” Gray said. “The first homer to Harper, that one was my bad. The second one was a great piece of hitting on his part. That was just crazy.”

The Rockies’ offense exploded in the fourth, in part thanks to Gray’s hit to keep the inning going. Ryan McMahon started the spree, hitting a single. He scored shortly after off a sacrifice fly from Josh Fuentes.

Gray’s single brought in CJ Cron to tie the game, and a four-run home run from Trevor Story gave the Rockies the lead. It was just his second home run of the year and third career grand slam.

“Trevor has really put his arms around the whole team,” manager Buddy Black said. “I love the fact that he’s taken that responsibility about this group. We pull for everyone, but you really pull for Trev.”

Story, who usually shows little emotion, said he knew right away that that ball was going over the wall. He jumped in the air and did a bat flip as he turned to run the bases, then celebrated with a herd of teammates when he rounded home.

“Baseball is hard, when you do well it’s exciting,” he said. “That’s the true feeling of it. The situation of the game, it could have been a turning point. That really pushed it in our direction. Just feeling the energy from our teammates.”

The Rockies went on to score two more runs in the fifth and one in the sixth. Cron added a two-run home run in the eighth inning to give the Rockies 12 runs, a season high for the team.

Now, the real test comes as the Rockies head back to San Francisco on Monday for the start of their second road trip. The Rockies lost all six games of their first trip, dropping three each to the Dodgers and Giants. In one game against the Giants, the Rockies only mustered two hits.

They rebounded to win five out of eight games of their home stand, as their offense lit up to score 43 runs.

“Still have the same intensity as before,” Elias Díaz said about their mindset heading into the road trip, through bullpen catcher and translator Aaron Munoz. “Just continue to compete. This time around we are looking to use this momentum from this home (stand).”