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ST. LOUIS(AP)
Jorge De La Rosa
's first victory after an 0-6 start was no breeze. He was nursing a one-run lead before the
Colorado Rockies
scored nine runs in the seventh inning, a franchise record for a road game.
Manager
Jim Tracy
was impressed with the left-hander's composure after giving up a home run to
Albert Pujols
that cut the deficit to 2-1 in the sixth. De La Rosa finished the inning with two easy outs before the Rockies erupted in
an 11-4 victory Friday night.
''It's the first time all year I really believe he turned the page, went right to the next hitter and put the inning down
right there,'' Tracy said. ''I was very encouraged by the way he threw his shoulders back and let it go.''
De La Rosa also got his first RBI on a bases-loaded walk off
Dennys Reyes
in the breakaway seventh, which eclipsed the previous franchise mark of eight. It also was the first walk of his career in
74 at-bats with the take sign still on at 3-1.
''The coach told me to wait for one (strike), then he said one more,'' De La Rosa said.
Dexter Fowler
homered for a 2-0 lead in the sixth and drew a bases-loaded walk one at-bat after the .056-hitting De La Rosa's free pass
in the Rockies' biggest inning of the year.
Todd Helton
added a three-run double, and
Ian Stewart
had a three-run homer for Colorado, which scored 10 runs Thursday to beat Houston.
''The one inning makes it really a bad game,'' Cardinals manager
Tony La Russa
said. ''But even when the game was closer they were hitting and pitching better than we were.''
Albert Pujols
,
Yadier Molina
and
Ryan Ludwick
homered for the Cardinals, who wasted a strong outing by
Adam Wainwright
(5-4). Molina hit his first homer since May 5 in the seventh, four innings after Helton him on the side of the head on a backswing.
Pujols was 1 for 4 to end a streak of 15 straight games in which he reached base at least twice, tying
Keith Hernandez
(1980) for the Cardinals' longest run in 50 years.
Pete Rose
's 20-game streak in 1979 is the longest in the majors over that span.
Tracy put De La Rosa (1-6) on notice before the game, noting that it was a ''performance business.'' De La Rosa's losing streak
had been tied with the Tigers'
Armando Galarraga
for the longest in the major leagues and he'd lost his previous three starts while allowing 18 runs in 12 innings.
Before Friday, the Rockies averaged only 2.3 runs in his outings - third-lowest in the NL. The Cardinals were 0 for 7 with
five strikeouts with runners in scoring position the first six innings while falling behind, and De La Rosa ended up allowing
three runs in 6 2-3 innings for his first victory in 11 starts since Sept. 25 at San Francisco.
''It's nice to get the first one,'' De La Rosa said. ''It took a long time. I hope I keep pitching like I pitched today.''
The first seven Rockies reached safely in the seventh while also victimizing
Jason Motte
and rookie
Jess Todd
, called up earlier in the day after
Kyle Lohse
went on the 15-day disabled list with a forearm injury. Todd allowed Stewart's three-run homer in his major league debut and
gave up two runs in 1 2-3 innings.
Wainwright retired 10 in a row, half of them on strikeouts, before Fowler's homer in the sixth for a 2-0 lead. Fowler leads
NL rookies with 43 hits and the homer was his first since April 12.
''I felt good the whole time,'' Wainwright said. ''They took some tough at-bats.''
Notes: Ludwick had been 2 for 26 with no RBIs since coming off the DL from a hamstring injury before homering in the eighth.
... Wainwright is 2-1 with a 1.17 ERA in seven career games against the Rockies, three of them starts. ... Rockies SS
Troy Tulowitzki
(left hand contusion) missed his fourth straight start. ... The Rockies'
Carlos Gonzalez
, a lineup scratch when he arrived late after his recall from Triple-A Colorado Springs, took over in center field in the
seventh and grounded out to start the eighth. ... All but two of the Cardinals' last 15 homers have come with the bases empty.
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