It took a week, but Carlos Gonzalez finally put his prized skills on display in Colorado Springs.

The prospect who, at 23, already has been a key figure in trades for Dan Haren and Matt Holliday smacked a pair of doubles, drew a pair of walks and scored three runs, helping the Sky Sox blow open a tie game Thursday and earn a 10-4 victory over Reno.

Nobody was getting more impatient for a breakout performance than Gonzalez himself.

“You know what, sometimes you get really anxious and you just need to wait for your opportunity,” said Gonzalez, who was hitting .182 before the game. “It feels good.”

The center fielder started the scoring in a six-run seventh inning when his double to left center drove home Mike McCoy. The Sky Sox added two more doubles and three singles before the first out was recorded.

The Sky Sox split the four-game series and finished the opening homestand 5-2.

Corner outfielders Matt Murton and Matt Miller each collected three hits for the Sky Sox, whose 14-hit outburst was a season best.The Sky Sox outfield was a combined 8-for-12 with six runs, five RBIs and four doubles.

Gonzalez was at the center of it all.

“I’ve seen it before, I saw it in spring training,” manager Tom Runnells said. “In one game he hit for the cycle and I said, ‘You know what, that’s what everybody’s talking about.’ We’ve just got to get him to be more consistent.”

And that will happen, according to Reno manager Brett Butler, who coached Gonzalez in the Diamondbacks system for two years.

“You’re not going to have to worry about him,” Butler said. “He’s a five-tool player and he’ll play in the big leagues for a long time.”

Many expected Gonzalez to open this season in the big leagues. After coming from Oakland with Huston Street and Greg Smith in the Holliday deal, Gonzalez figured he would earn a spot in the Rockies outfield and build on a disappointing season in which he hit .242 in 85 games as a rookie with the Athletics.

But that didn’t happen and he was optioned to the Sky Sox near the end of spring training.

He said that demotion had nothing to do with his sluggish start.

“I think when you put a uniform on you always want to be good no matter what,” Gonzalez said. “No matter where you are, if you’re in Triple-A, Little League or the big leagues, you’re always trying to do good. You’re always trying to play the best baseball you have inside.

“I think I’m here because I need to work more with my abilities, but I know I’ll be fine. Someday I will have my opportunity to go up there again.”

MAJOR LEAGUE MOMENT

Two batters after Sky Sox second baseman Eric Young Jr. narrowly missed hauling in this hit from Reno’s Augustin Murillo in the sixth inning, Young dived to his left to snare a line drive from John Hester and doubled off the runner at first.

Carlos Gonzalez Photo by MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE