Major League Baseball

Cardinals 9, Rockies 6

Published Aug. 2, 2012 7:19 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Matt Holliday is making himself at home again at Coors Field.

Holliday had another big night against his former team, homering twice and driving in five runs as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies 9-6 on a rain-soaked Wednesday night.

Yadier Molina had three hits and Jake Westbrook pitched six innings to get the win.

Holliday, who homered and drove in four runs in Monday's win, continued his assault Tuesday with the 17th multihomer game of his career and the first this season.

''I like to play here,'' he said. ''I see the ball well here and seem to have fairly good success.''

Holliday has enjoyed playing Colorado anywhere this season. In six games against the Rockies he is 13 for 24, including three hits Tuesday.

''Matt's been outstanding,'' St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. ''Getting big hits for us, the power, we know that's there, but it's been timely, too.''

His big blow came in the seventh inning. With Colorado leading 5-3, pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker walked and Daniel Descalso singled. Reliever Matt Belisle (3-3) came on and Holliday hit a 1-0 pitch deep into the seats in left to put the Cardinals back on top. It was his 21st homer of the season.

''I was looking to hit the ball through the middle,'' he said. ''We had runners in scoring position and I was trying to get something to hit hard.''

Belisle was trying to sneak a fastball by him but Holliday wasn't fooled.

''We were just going inside fastball and he was ready,'' Belisle said. ''Right now, he hitting everything well.''

Holliday's hot streak isn't reserved to Coors Field. Over the past month he is hitting .364 with seven homers and 21 RBIs to help lead the Cardinals to a 16-10 record since July 1.

His play has made an impact in the St. Louis clubhouse.

''He's been real vocal lately,'' Matheny said. ''When you have someone that's leading and their actions are backing up what they're saying, it carries a lot of weight.''

It did against Colorado, which has dropped five straight and seven in a row at home despite scoring 11 runs in the past two games. Josh Rutledge homered and Tyler Colvin had two triples among his three hits for the Rockies.

In the first inning, Holliday connected off starter Drew Pomeranz for a two-run homer that gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.

''I threw him a 3-2 curveball and he was all over it,'' Pomeranz said.

St. Louis made it 3-0 in the second on doubles by Molina and Tyler Greene. Rockies left fielder Carlos Gonzalez limited the damage by reaching over the fence to rob Greene of a home run. The ball popped out of Gonzalez's glove into the outfield. Umpires upheld the double call after a 50-second video review.

The Rockies got one back in the fourth. Colvin tripled with one out and scored on Ramon Hernandez's groundout to short to make it 3-1.

Colorado took the lead in the sixth. Andrew Brown and Jordan Pacheco led off with consecutive doubles, Colvin tripled and Hernandez, who had three hits, doubled to give the Rockies a 4-3 lead.

Eric Young Jr. made it 5-3 with a double to right but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple.

''We got to where we needed to get to in the game and they got our (bullpen),'' Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. ''That's what it boils down to.''

The Cardinals scored again in the eighth and twice in the ninth to pad the lead.

Rutledge homered with two outs in the ninth, his fourth homer this season.

Westbrook (10-8) gave up five runs on nine hits, struck out two and walked four.

NOTES: The game was delayed by rain for 1 hour, 26 minutes after the seventh inning. ... Rockies 1B Todd Helton (flulike symptoms) and OF Michael Cuddyer (sore oblique) were out of the lineup. ... The Cardinals activated RHP Edward Mujica and optioned RHP Trevor Rosenthal to Triple-A Memphis. Mujica was acquired from the Miami Marlins on Tuesday. ... David Freese extended his hitting streak to 12 games. ... The Rockies activated C Wil Nieves from the 15-day DL and designated him for assignment. ... Cardinals RHP Lance Lynn (13-4) will face Colorado RHP Alex White (2-6) in the series final on Thursday.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball