On Gray day in Los Angeles, only one could come out on top.

It was Rockies’ starter Jon Gray vs. Dodgers’ starter Josiah Gray, making his first major league start. It was the lesser experienced of the two Grays’ team that came out on top, with the Dodgers beating the Rockies 3-2 to win the series. 

Sunday could have been Jon Gray’s last outing in a Rockies uniform. He’s a free agent at the end of the season, and is on the table for possible trades. The deadline is Friday, hours before he would make his scheduled start against the Padres. Gray, though, has stated that he loves playing for the Rockies and would be open to signing an extension at the end of the season.

His fate is in the hands of the Rockies front office, led by interim general manager Bill Schmidt. Schmidt is running his first trade deadline without the help of veteran assistant general manager Jon Weil, who resigned earlier this season. Multiple other players are expected to be on the table, including Trevor Story, Mychal Givens and CJ Cron.

“I’ve been able to block it out,” Gray said. “With all the chatter, it can be hard to get away from it. But I’m just enjoying every day. Every day is a blessing. I can’t control the future, I’m just going to try to respond to it the best I can.”

If this was his last start, his time with the Rockies will be remembered by his consistency. A homegrown talent, Gray was drafted in 2013, and debuted shortly after in 2015. He’s climbed his way into the club record books, sitting at second for career strikeouts (783) and fifth for career starts (140).

On Sunday, he wasn’t at his best. His pitch count climbed early, topping at 107 after five innings, as he struggled with fastball command. But he still allowed just two runs, both homers from Chris Taylor. The first homer was off a slider that Gray overthrew. The second was a curveball that Gray tried to sneak close to Taylor, and Gray said he was surprised Taylor was able to hit it. 

“He looks really good right now,” Gray said of Taylor. “He’s really on time. He’s seeing the ball well.” 

It was the most pitches Gray has thrown this season, and five shy of his career high. Earlier in his career on a bad day, he said he would get himself into situations where he didn’t think he would be able to claw his way out. Now, he’s taking it one pitch a time, trying to stay aggressive even after he makes a bad pitch. 

“It’s just thinking positively, no matter what happens,” he said. “You can always see a way out.”

The Rockies got on board first, scoring more runs in the first than they did all of Saturday night. After Raimel Tapia walked and stole second, Brendan Rodgers, back after missing two games with calf soreness, advanced Tapia to third. He scored on a RBI single from Story. Elias Díaz hit a homer in the second, his fifth of the month and second in three days. He’s improved steadily as the season goes on, and is batting .211.

Lucas Gilbreath, fresh off the first save of his career Friday, and Tyler Kinley pitched scoreless sixth and seventh innings respectively. But in the eighth, Carlos Estévez watched in shock as Will Smith hit one deep off him, landing just over the wall above Sam Hilliard in center field.

“It just feels like we’ve had this exact same game, close game to the end and a big hit on the other side, several times,” acting manager Mike Redmond said. “It is a bit frustrating, but we have to keep grinding.”