Major League Baseball
Mariners 6, Rockies 4
Major League Baseball

Mariners 6, Rockies 4

Published May. 21, 2012 12:52 a.m. ET

The Seattle Mariners found a cure for their road woes - a weekend trip to Coors Field.

Jesus Montero and Justin Smoak hit back-to-back home runs, Blake Beavan tied a season-high with seven strikeouts and the Mariners survived a ninth-inning rally to beat the Colorado Rockies 6-4 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

The Mariners were 8-4 on the road after sweeping a series in Detroit last month before losing 12 of their last 13 away from home. They stumbled into Denver having gone 1-9 on the road in May but are heading home with momentum.

''It's definitely a good way to end the road trip,'' Kyle Seager said. ''We definitely had some ups and downs along the way but it's good to end on a high note.''

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Coors Field proved to be an oasis, but not without a tense ninth inning.

Leading 6-2, closer Brandon League came on and gave up a one-out, pinch-hit homer to Dexter Fowler, his fifth. Eric Young and pinch-hitter Jason Giambi followed with singles, and Carlos Gonzalez knocked in a run with a single to center.

Troy Tulowitzki hit a potential double-play ball to third, but Smoak bobbled the relay at first to keep the inning alive. League struck out Todd Helton with a 96-mph fastball to end the game.

''A fastball right down the middle,'' Helton said. ''That was the only pitch I saw all day. I was waiting for a sound and never (heard it).''

League, who has two blown saves in his last three chances, said he felt good Sunday.

''Besides the home run and the first pitch to Gonzalez I thought my ball was doing what it supposed to do,'' he said. ''Those aren't the results you're looking for but I felt better.''

Mike Carp also homered and Dustin Ackley had two hits for the Mariners.

Gonzalez homered among his three hits to go with Fowler's homer but it wasn't enough for Colorado, which has lost four straight overall and 8 of 10 at home in May.

''We are in a helluva rut right now,'' Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. ''We are going to have to dig our ourselves out. Nobody likes it. It's no fun to go through it. There is no finger pointing going on.''

The Rockies can point to Seattle's pitching as a source of their troubles. Kevin Millwood no-hit them for 6 2-3 innings before setting for a two-hit shutout Friday. Jason Vargas threw seven strong innings in Saturday's 10-3 win.

Beavan (2-4) followed those starts with five-plus innings of two-run ball. He gave two runs and seven hits while walking one to get his first win since April 15.

Beavan's only mistakes were a two-out solo homer to Gonzalez and a two-out RBI single by Jordan Pacheco. He left after giving up a leadoff double to Michael Cuddyer in the sixth, but righty Shawn Kelley got Wilin Rosario to line out and struck out Pacheco and pinch-hitter Tyler Colvin.

''It was good for our bullpen to step up in the sixth inning and get the next three guys out,'' Beavan said. ''Kelley getting those guys was a big momentum swing in this game.''

Colorado's Jeremy Guthrie (2-2) allowed three homers in a game for the fifth time in his career.

''Three balls left the ballpark,'' Tracy said. ''That's the difference in the game.''

The Mariners jumped out to the early lead for the third straight game. Ackley led off the game with a double, moved to third on fly out and, after a walk to Seager, the two successfully completed a double steal to score the first run. Seager scored on Smoak's two-out single to make it 2-0.

Gonzalez cut the lead in half with his eighth home run in the bottom of the first before Seattle's big bats woke up.

With two outs in the third, Montero hit a two-run homer to left, his sixth, and Smoak followed with fifth homer into the front row of the right-field bleachers to make it 5-1.

''Getting on top of that high fastball the way he did, you've got to do a lot of things right,'' manager Eric Wedge said of Smoak. ''Offensively a lot of these guys are headed in the right direction. We've got some guys that can do some damage once they get it going.''

Pacheco's RBI single in the fourth made it 5-2 but Carp's fourth homer off the second deck in right in sixth put Seattle ahead 6-2.

Guthrie left after giving up six earned runs, striking out seven and walking two in six innings. He didn't get much help from his offense, which went 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position.

''We all know our pitchers are not doing very well. We just need to do our part and score runs and play really good defense,'' Gonzalez said. ''That's the only things we can control. We can't pitch for everyone.''

NOTES: The back-to-back homers were the first this season by Seattle. It's the fourth time Colorado has surrendered consecutive homers. ... The Rockies recalled RHP Adam Ottavino from Triple-A and optioned LHP Rex Brothers. ... Mariners C Miguel Olivo will join Triple-A Tacoma in Iowa on Monday to begin a rehab assignment. Olivo has been on the DL since May 5 with a strained right groin. ... Mariners RHP Felix Hernandez will face Texas RHP Yu Darvish in the opener of a three-game series in Seattle on Monday. ... Colorado will send lefty Jamie Moyer against Marlins lefty Mark Buehrle in Miami on Monday.

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