LOS ANGELES—Troy Tulowitzki homered to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs, and the Colorado Rockies beat Los Angeles 9-7 Tuesday night for their ninth straight win and eliminated the Dodgers from postseason contention.
Colorado remained one game behind San Diego in the wild-card race, tied with Philadelphia with five games to play. The Rockies tied their franchise record for the longest winning streak, set from Aug. 26-Sept. 5, 1997.
The Rockies are a season-high 13 games over .500 (85-72), while Los Angeles lost for the eighth time in nine games.
Ryan Speier (3-1) pitched one inning for the win after relieving starter Ubaldo Jimenez. Manny Corpas got Andy LaRoche to ground out to second with a runner on base for his 17th save in 20 attempts.
Mark Hendrickson (4-8) relieved Brad Penny after five innings, and gave up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Ryan Spilborghs and a two-out homer by Tulowitzki that put the Rockies back in front 6-5. Tulowitzki’s 23 homers are the second-most by a rookie shortstop, seven fewer than current Dodger Nomar Garciaparra had in 1997 with Boston.
Todd Helton’s second RBI single increased Colorado’s lead to 7-5 in the eighth. LaRoche got the run back in the bottom half with an RBI single, but the rally fizzled when center fielder Cory Sullivan made a sliding catch to rob Matt Kemp of a single with the bases loaded.
Spilborghs added an RBI double and Jamey Carroll a run-scoring single in the ninth.
Delwyn Young hit his first career home run in the bottom half for Los Angeles.
Jimenez was lifted with a 5-4 deficit after giving up four straight hits with none out in the fifth, including a three-run homer to right-center by James Loney after Juan Pierre and Kemp opened the inning with infield singles.
Jeff Kent chased Jimenez with a ground-rule double, but was thrown out at the plate by Sullivan as he tried to score on Andre Ethier’s flyball. Kent was shaken up in the collision with Yorvit Torrealba, and was replaced at second base by Wilson Valdez.
Colorado went ahead 4-2 in the top of the inning on Helton’s RBI single and a fielder’s choice grounder by Brad Hawpe. Last week at Coors Field, Helton and Hawpe hit dramatic late-inning home runs that turned potential losses into one-run wins on consecutive days during a four-game sweep of the Dodgers that effectively ended their postseason hopes.
Los Angeles tied it 2-all in the fourth when Chin-Lung Hu, the Dodgers’ minor league player of the year, followed a two-out single by LaRoche with a first-pitch homer into the left field pavilion. The 23-year-old infielder was making his second start at shortstop while Rafael Furcal missed his seventh straight game with a sore lower back.
The Rockies opened the scoring in the third with an RBI single to left by Kaz Matsui, who ended up circling the bases on the play. Ethier missed the cutoff man on his attempted relay to the plate, then catcher Russell Martin intercepted the throw halfway to the mound and his subsequent peg to second base glanced off Matsui—who never broke stride after scrambling to his feet.
Jimenez allowed five runs and nine hits in four-plus innings. Penny allowed four runs and six hits over five.
Notes:@ MVP candidate Matt Holliday was back in the Colorado lineup after missing two games with a slightly strained left oblique muscle. He went 2-for-4 and was hit by a pitch. … The Rockies, who finished with a worse record than the Dodgers in each of their first 14 seasons, need one more victory to end that streak. … Penny set a new career high for innings pitched with 208. The eight-year veteran had 205 with the Florida Marlins in 2001.
