De La Rosa, D-backs dump Rockies

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[May 11, 2016]  DENVER -- A dominant start by Rubby De La Rosa enabled the Arizona Diamondbacks to beat Colorado 5-1 Tuesday night and add to the Rockies' misery at home.

 

The victory was the fifth straight for the Diamondbacks, who will try to sweep the three-game series Wednesday.

The Rockies lost for the fourth time in five games and fell to 4-10 at home as they continue to search for success at Coors Field. Colorado struggled there last season, finishing with a 36-45 home record.

"It's concerning," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said of his team's problems at Coors Field. "Usually this is where we play real well, historically. So it's strange, but I do believe we'll turn it around as we get deeper in the season."

The Rockies have lost seven straight games at Coors Field for the first time since July 17-Aug. 1, 2012. They dropped eight straight games at Coors Field from Sept. 15, 2011-April 9, 2012, and set the franchise record of nine consecutive home losses at Mile High Stadium in 1993, the Rockies' initial season.

After five scoreless innings, the Diamondbacks broke through with four runs in the sixth against Chris Rusin (1-1). Paul Goldschmidt homered in the seventh to make it 5-0.

De La Rosa (4-4) overmatched the Rockies, holding them to one run on four hits with one walk and six strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings. In his past four starts, De La Rosa is 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA, compiling six walks and 26 strikeouts in that span.

"Establishing the fastball inside," Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said when asked why De La Rosa has been so effective lately. "When you throw 95, to 97, 98 miles an hour, the hitters have to respect that ball in there, which opens up the rest of the plate."

Namely, for his slider, which De La Rosa said was working very well and helped him become the first Arizona pitcher to throw seven scoreless innings in a start at Coors Field since Ian Kennedy threw six scoreless innings on Sept. 12, 2010. De La Rosa made three relief appearances last month, two in extra-inning games and he said that brief time in the bullpen was beneficial.

"That helped me a lot," he said. "I just think that right now every inning is just like coming from the bullpen. Go there and try to retire three hitters and go back down. That's kind of how I think about it."

The Rockies didn't get two runners on base in an inning until the eighth. De La Rosa issued his lone walk to Tony Wolters to open the inning. Mark Reynolds' broken-bat single sent the runner to third, and Wolters scored on De La Rosa's wild pitch.

In the Arizona sixth, Welington Castro lined a leadoff double and moved up on Jake Lamb's slow grounder. Yasmany Tomas, who went 3-for-3 after missing four games with a stiff neck, was intentionally walked. Chris Owings foiled that strategy with a hit to left-center that he hustled into an RBI double.

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No. 8 hitter Nick Ahmed drove an opposite-field single to right to score Tomas.

After De La Rosa's safety squeeze brought Owings home, Ahmed scored on a Jean Segura single to make it 4-0. That finished Rusin, who allowed four runs on 10 hits (seven singles and three doubles) in 5 2/3 innings and was unable to set the Diamondbacks down in order.

Goldschmidt's homer was his seventh of the season and first since April 27. It came on a first-pitch fastball from Gonzalez Germen and traveled an estimated 431 feet.

Hale praised Goldschmidt for being "aggressive in the zone," particularly after taking called third strikes from Rusin his first two at-bats.

NOTES: Diamondbacks 2B Jean Segura extended his career-high streak of reaching base safely to 17 consecutive games. ... Diamondbacks OF Yasmany Tomas returned to the lineup after missing the previous four games with a stiff neck and went 3-for-4 with a double. ...Diamondbacks 1B Paul Goldschmidt has reached base safely in 43 straight games against the Rockies, a franchise record against any opponent. ... Arizona RHP Evan Marshall was recalled from Triple-A Reno. He took the roster spot of RHP Archie Bradley, who was optioned to Reno after his spot start Monday. ... Diamondbacks OF David Peralta was not in the lineup a second straight day due to right wrist soreness. ... The Diamondbacks signed OF Michael Bourn, 33, to a minor league contract and assigned him to Double-A Mobile. ... Rockies SS Trevor Story entered the game with 15 RBIs against the Diamondbacks, which is the most ever for a rookie in a single season against them. He went 0-for-4. ... Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa (strained left groin) returned to the team to prepare for his second, and most likely last, rehab start Saturday for Triple-A Albuquerque.

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