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 Ballpark. De La Rosa threw 6.2 sold 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. The only hints that he was ever in real trouble were two wild pitches in the seventh.
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 the fourth when Ken Griffey Jr. stroked a majestic two-out homer to left. It was the 607th homer of Griffey’s career and 14th of the season. De La Rosa became the 389th pitcher to deliver a home run pitch to Griffey.
The Rockies, meanwhile, treated Reds starter Homer Bailey as if he were Homer Simpson, spraying 15 hits off him in 4 2/3 innings.
It was the most hits against a Cincinnati pitcher since Jimmy Anderson allowed 15 on June 26, 2003 at St. Louis. It was the most hits allowed by a Reds right-hander since the Dodgers pounded Mario Soto for 15 hits on Sept. 6, 1982.
It could have been worse, but base-running errors cost the Rockies runs. In the third, Matt Holliday reached first on a blooper to right-center, but was doubled-off first when Brad Hawpe hit a shot to center fielder Jay Bruce. Bruce whipped the ball back to first baseman Joey Votto, who dove for the bag with his glove, nipping Holliday for the double play. Though Holliday was running with the pitch, he should have made it back. Garrett Atkins came up next and smoked a double to center; a hit that likely would have scored Holliday had he still been on base.
Three hits in the fourth garnered zero runs. Troy Tulowitzki and Yorvit Torrealba hit back-to-back singles to open the inning, but De La Rosa’s weak bunt in front of catcher David Ross resulted in Tulowitzki’s force-out at third. Next, Taveras drilled a single to center, but Torrealba, trying to score from second, was nailed at the plate by a beautiful throw from Bruce.
The Rockies broke the game open in the fifth with six straight hits off Bailey, including RBI-singles by Tulowitzki and Torrealba and a two-run single by De La Rosa, who entered the game with a .053 average.
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.
The Rockies look for the series sweep Sunday before starting a three-game set in Pittsburgh on Monday.
