PHILADELPHIA — Jorge De La Rosa has been Exhibit A in the Rockies’ rotation renaissance.
He entered Wednesday night’s game with a seven-game winning streak, and his nine victories since June 1 led all big-league pitchers.
But what happened to De La Rosa in a 7-0 loss to the Phillies was not pretty. With De La Rosa’s location on the fritz, the Phillies teed off for three home runs in five innings, tying for the most homers ever hit against De La Rosa in a single game.
Adding injury to insult, De La Rosa was hit in the arm by a line drive up the middle by Carlos Ruiz in the fourth. De La Rosa was shaken up, but appeared to escape serious injury.
Opposing starter J.A. Happ, meanwhile, looked like Sandy Koufax. He shackled Rockies bats en route to a four-hit shutout that took a mere 2 hours, 18 minutes. His 10 strikeouts were a career high and the shutout was his second this season. When he struck out Troy Tulowitzki looking to end the game, Citizens Bank Park rattled and rolled as Phillies fans cut loose.
The combination of Happ and the Phillies’ offensive outburst ended the Rockies’ five-game winning streak and dropped them a half-game behind San Francisco in the National League wild-card race.
The last time De La Rosa was so bloodied by the long ball was on Aug. 23, 2006, when Cleveland bludgeoned De La Rosa, who was then pitching for Kansas City.
Wednesday’s first homer was a solo shot by Pedro Feliz in the second. No. 2 came moments later, a two-run missile to left field off Jimmy Rollins’ hot bat. Rollins extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
The third, and most telling blow of all, came in the fifth. Usually, De La Rosa’s slider is a wicked strikeout pitch. Not this time. Jayson Werth deposited the left-hander’s 85-mph slider into the right-field seats for an opposite-field, three-run homer.
De La Rosa — 9-1 with a 3.79 ERA in his previous 10 starts — was charged with seven runs on 10 hits.
Colorado’s offense was a no-show against Happ. The left-hander was pitching under a cloud of uncertainty, as the Phillies must decide to keep him as a starter or return him to the bullpen when they activate Pedro Martinez. He certainly made a statement Wednesday night.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
