What the struggling Rockies needed this afternoon was a victory. Anyway, anyhow.
What they received was a superb performance from starter Aaron Cook. He allowed two runs and scattered nine hits in the Rockies’ 7-2 win against the Dodgers. When he departed with two outs in the eighth inning, victory-starved Rockies fans gave him a standing ovation.
Cook didn’t overpower the Dodgers, but his trusty sinker forced them into 17 groundball outs. He didn’t walk a single batter, a refreshing change for a team that’s watched its starters struggle with command almost every time they take the mound.
The win snapped the Rockies’ three-game losing streak and was just their third win in the last 14 games. Today’s game marked the fifth time this season that Cook put the brakes on a losing skid. He improved to 5-1, his ERA dipping to 2.40.
To do it, Cook had to cool off the hottest team in baseball. The Dodgers came into Coors Field riding an eight-game winning streak, during which they had hit .327 as a team and outscored their opponents by a combined score of 70-35. It was Colorado first victory against Los Angeles in six tries this season.
The Rockies struck quickly against L.A. starter Derek Lowe, taking a 3-0 first inning lead on Omar Quintanilla’s run-scoring double down the first-base line, Matt Holliday’s RBI-single to shallow center and a sacrifice fly by Chris Iannetta.
Holliday and Garrett Atkins each drove in a run in the fifth; Scott Podsednik added a run-scoring single in the sixth; and Jonathan Herrera’s single scored another run in the eighth.
Holliday’s career average against Lowe is now .567 (17-for-30) with eight RBIs.
The Dodgers’ Andre Ethier hit a solo homer off Cook in the fifth, Ethier’s third home run of the season.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
