CINCINNATI — Jorge De La Rosa has always been a tease.
His hopping fastball and nasty slider make pitching coaches fall in love with him. But there was always that one inning, that one meltdown, that ruined things.
But not Saturday night at Great American Ball Park. De La Rosa threw 6-2/3 solid innings, allowing just one run on two hits, as the Rockies beat the Reds 5-1 for their eighth win in their last nine games.
De La Rosa struck out eight and walked five. It was De La Rosa’s second impressive victory in a row. In his last start, he held the Pirates to one run on seven hits in six innings.
De La Rosa didn’t allow a hit until the fourth, when Ken Griffey Jr. stroked a two-out homer to left, the 607th homer of his career.
The Rockies treated Reds starter Homer Bailey as if he were Homer Simpson, spraying 15 hits off him in 4-2/3 innings.
Rockies batters have been on a tear since the all-star break. Saturday, they had 16 hits, marking the seventh straight game in which they’ve had at least 11 hits.
