Milwaukee – The Rockies and Brewers turned Miller Park into a giant pinball machine Friday night, rattling the stadium with six home runs.
Colorado and Milwaukee hit three homers apiece, but when the bombardment ended, Colorado walked off with a 10-6 victory. The win was the Rockies’ sixth in their past seven games.
It was an important start to an important 10-game road trip. The Rockies typically stumble out of the gate in the second half of the season. In fact, they have eight consecutive seasons with a sub-.500 record after the all-star break. Moreover, their previous road trip was a 1-9 nightmare.
But they showed road resiliency Friday night, thanks to their dynamic offense and a bullpen that held the Brewers scoreless for the last four innings.
The Rockies snapped a 5-5 tie with a four-run fifth inning, riding two-run homers from rookie shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and catcher Yorvit Torrealba. Matt Holliday’s solo homer in the sixth gave the Rockies some breathing room. All three homers came off reliever Carlos Villanueva.
Holliday, who participated in the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game, looked bad while striking out four times Friday, but he crushed Villanueva’s fastball into the second deck beyond left field.
Colorado survived a lackluster start by Jeff Francis. In five innings, he gave up six runs on seven hits, including three homers – two to rookie Ryan Braun and one to Prince Fielder, who leads the National League with 30 homers.
In the third, Francis’ wildness cost him. He walked No. 8 hitter Rickie Weeks, who arrived at the plate with a .221 average and the owner of two hits in his past 37 at-bats. Then Francis gave up a two-out free pass to J.J. Hardy, setting the table for Braun’s three-run homer to right. Before Francis could gather himself, Fielder stepped up and crushed a 2-2 pitch to center, giving the Brewers a 4-2 lead.
Francis, who got the victory to improve to 9-5, helped himself at the plate, stroking a two-run double down the left-field line in the fourth. The second double of his career fueled the Rockies’ three-run inning that gave them a 5-4 lead.
Errors of their ways
The Rockies were the National League’s best fielding team in the first half of the season, but they committed two errors Friday night.
Right fielder Brad Hawpe ran down a line drive to the corner in the second, but saw the ball pop out of his glove. In the eighth, Tulowitzki booted a grounder, allowing Geoff Jenkins to reach first, but Tulowitzi made amends by starting a double play that got the Rockies out of the inning unscathed.
Walking wounded
Left-handed reliever Brian Fuentes went on the 15-day disabled list Friday, and center fielder Willy Taveras could be next.
Taveras’ strained right quadriceps is healing slowly, and manager Clint Hurdle said he would play Taveras sparingly, or not at all, in this weekend’s series against the Brewers. By Sunday, the club will decide whether to put Taveras on the DL.
“It’s in our best interest, and in his, to have him for very limited use over the next couple of days,” Hurdle said. “At then (at the) end of the weekend we will decide what direction to go.”
The speedy Taveras, who leads the majors in infield hits and has 20 stolen bases, injured his leg chasing a flyball in Houston prior to the all-star break. The injury has slowed him considerably.
“It’s getting better,” he said Friday. “The swelling has gone down, but there is still pain there. I hope I can play this weekend.”
The decision to put Fuentes on the DL was not a surprise. Though his strained left latissimus muscle improved during the break, he is still experiencing stiffness and soreness when he throws.
“It’s getting better,” Fuentes said Friday. “If this had to happen, this was the best possible time. It gave me four days to rest it.”
Fuentes’ move is retroactive to July 4, meaning he would be eligible to pitch again on Thursday. To take his place on the roster, the club recalled infielder Omar Quintanilla from Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Staff writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
