The Rockies used a scalpel to slice the skin off Jorge De La Rosa’s left middle finger two weeks ago — anything to help a cut heal in time to pitch Colorado back into contention.
The St. Louis Cardinals climbed on the back of Michael Wacha in April after Adam Wainwright tore his Achilles tendon — anything to carry the heavy expectations of 11 World Series titles.
And with runs at a premium Tuesday night at Coors Field, in a rare display of arm aptitude a mile high in Denver, the Rockies and Cardinals squeezed out anything they could in a duel of aces.
WATCH:
The Rockies wrung a little more. Nolan Arenado’s two-run homer off Wacha in the sixth inning and De La Rosa’s clever changeup led the Rockies to a 4-3 victory over the Cardinals in front of a red-thick crowd of 33,731.
“That’s a tough game right there,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “Wacha was as good as we’ve seen this year. We fought and scratched for some runs.”
WATCH:
The Rockies (27-30) are now out of last place in the NL West, a half-game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Starting with a night victory May 23 over the San Francisco Giants, Colorado is 12-5 over 17 days. The Rox won a series against St. Louis for the first time since July 2010.
The Cardinals (38-21), the current best team in baseball, fell for a second time in a three-game series in Denver.
“I just try to do me,” said De La Rosa “I just try to pitch my game like I do every time.”
St. Louis broke out first in the fifth inning when Peter Bourjos singled to center to score Jon Jay. But Randal Grichuk’s single to open the inning was their first hit. And De La Rosa kept the damage down.
In the sixth, St. Louis went ahead 2-0 on Jhonny Peralta’s solo home run off the second-deck facade above the bullpens in right field. But again, De La Rosa capped the hurt.
Colorado’s ace, who missed two starts because of a cut on his hand, then was delayed two days to face Wacha, struck out the side 1-2-3 in the seventh. He whiffed Yadier Molina, Grichuk and Jay on slowed-down split-finger changeups and cutters.
“I gave everything I had in that inning,” De La Rosa said.
De La Rosa finished with just three hits against him and two runs. He struck out eight and walked two.
And while De La Rosa pitched on point, Wacha did nearly the same. He struck out a career-high 10 batters, against just one walk.
But the Rockies pegged Wacha for two runs apiece in the sixth and seventh. Arenado hammered a homer 441 feet and sky-high to left center in the sixth to score Carlos Gonzalez.
“He’s firm. He throws hard. He paints,” Arenado said of Wacha. “He did a good job, just a couple mistakes we took advantage of.”
And, in two professional at-bats, DJ LeMahieu doubled in Wilin Rosario and Gonzalez singled in LeMahieu in the seventh. LeMahieu finished 3-for-4 and increased the second-best batting average in the NL to .350.
The Cardinals, who got battered in an 11-3 loss Monday but were fresh off winning three of four at Los Angeles against the Dodgers over the weekend, rallied. Bourjos hit reliever Boone Logan’s first pitch of the eighth for a home run. Then Logan walked Tony Cruz and hit Kolten Wong, before striking out Matt Carpenter.
Logan’s relief, Scott Oberg, struck out Peralta but walked Mark Reynolds to load the bases. With Molina to bat, Oberg forced the catcher into an eyebrow-wiping, sigh-inducing flyout to center. John Axford walked one, but punched out three to close the ninth.
“To be honest with you, I don’t know where we are in the standings,” Weiss said. “When we start winning a bunch of games, I’ll check out where we are.”
Nick Groke: ngroke@denverpost.com or
Looking ahead
Cardinals’ Carlos Martinez (6-2, 2.94 ERA) at Rockies’ Chad Bettis (2-0, 2.70), 1:10 p.m., ROOT; 850 AM
Bettis, the Rockies’ biggest pitching surprise this season, remains undefeated since his call-up May 14. And the Rockies are undefeated behind him in his five starts. He’s also getting better — Bettis has a 1.21 ERA in his past three starts. Bettis, in two abbreviated big-league stints in 2013-14, carried a 1-5 record and a 6.88 ERA. But he’s looking ace-like lately. “I’m just not being so predictable anymore,” he told The Denver Post last week. “It’s about being able to throw any pitch in any count, keeping the hitter off balance. I am throwing each pitch with conviction, 100 percent of the time.”
Thursday: Rockies’ Chris Rusin (2-0, 1.45 ERA) at Marlins’ David Phelps (2-3, 4.68), 5:10 p.m., ROOT
Friday: Rockies’ Kyle Kendrick (2-7, 6.16) at Marlins’ Jose Urena (0-2, ,5.49), 5:10 p.m., ROOT
Saturday: Rockies’ David Hale (2-0, 4.12) at Marlins’ TBA, 2:10 p.m., ROOT
Nick Groke, The Denver Post
