Brett Myers schooled Jorge De La Rosa tonight at Coors Field.
The Phillies’ veteran right-hander was far from perfect, giving up three homers to the Rockies, but he showed De La Rosa how to endure and ultimately thrive.
The result was an 8-4 Philadelphia victory that ended the Rockies’ three-game winning streak. Handcuffed by Rockies pitching on Friday, the Phillies’ potent lineup banged out 15 hits tonight.
Myers pitched seven innings, giving up four runs on four hits, striking out six. Though he got tagged, he never got rattled, never looked flustered.
De La Rosa, the Rockies’ talented but erratic left-hander, was gone after 4 2/3 innings. He sailed through his first two innings. He whiffed Ryan Howard with a gorgeous 85 mph changeup to end the first. In the second, he rung up Raul Ibanez with a blistering 95 mph fastball.
But the third inning exhibited why De La Rosa remains the No. 1 project of Rockies mental skills coach Ronn Svetich. After two quick outs, Jimmy Rollins reached on an infield single and Shane Victorino followed with a sharp single to left. Suddenly, De La Rosa transformed from cool customer into a fidgeting pitcher, losing focus and command. He walked Chase Utley on four pitches before giving up a three-run double to Howard. A 2-0 Rockies lead became a 3-2 Phillies advantage.
To his credit, De La Rosa righted himself with a perfect fourth, but gave up consecutive two-out singles to Utley and Howard in the fifth. That was it for De La Rosa. Enter reliever Ryan Speier, who hung a slider to Jayson Werth, who banged it into the right-field corner for a two-run triple and a 5-3 Phillies lead.
Recently acquired Jason Hammel pitched a shaky sixth, but manager Clint Hurdle brought him back out for the seventh. That’s when Raul Ibanez deposited Hammel’s 3-2 pitch into the second deck in right field. Hammel gave up another run in the eighth as Philadelphia extended its lead to 7-4.
The Rockies continue to play home run derby in the infant stage of the season. They had only four hits, but three of them went over the wall.
In the second, Troy Tulowitzki put the Rockies ahead 2-0 with a 422-foot, two-run homer to dead center off Meyers. Tulowitzki’s third homer came in just his fifth game. Last season, in large part because of a torn quadriceps that put him on the disabled list, Tulowitzki didn’t hit his third homer until July 2.
Garrett Atkins hit a solo shot to left in the fourth, tying the game 3-3. In the fifth, Clint Barmes cut the Phillies’ lead to 5-4 with a solo homer to left, his first this season.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
