Rockies 10, Phillies 5
Tyler Chatwood pitched his way out of trouble sometimes and got some help from his defense at other moments, too.
It all added up to a successful return from injury for the Colorado Rockies' starter on Saturday.
Chatwood pitched five effective innings in his first outing since a recent triceps injury, Tyler Colvin homered during Colorado's six-run first, and the Rockies snapped a three-game losing streak with a 10-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.
The Rockies also relied on solid defense to end a six-game skid against the Phillies. They turned three double plays and got a gem from third baseman Nolan Arenado, who snared Jonathan Pettibone's sharply hit grounder in the second with a diving stop and made a one-hop throw from his backside to get the Phillies pitcher.
In the first inning, one out after Michael Young's RBI single, left fielder Carlos Gonzalez also threw out Young at the plate as he tried to score on Ryan Howard's double.
''That was pretty special,'' Chatwood said of Arenado's defensive gem. ''That might have saved a run, and CarGo definitely saved a run, throwing out a guy from the wall. Our defense has been good all year and it definitely helped me out of some jams.''
Chatwood induced a double-play grounder in the fourth, after allowing a leadoff walk, and another in the fifth after successive singles to start the inning. Chatwood said he used his two-seam fastball to get both grounders.
''I thought Chat did an outstanding job,'' Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. ''What I really liked is when he got in trouble, he got the double-play ball. I think he's really focused on doing that this year. That's been his approach in those situations and he's been able to get it done.''
Wilin Rosario had three hits, all for extra bases, Arenado was 3 for 4 with two RBIs, and Chatwood pitched in with two hits, including an RBI single.
But it was Arenado's remarkable stop and throw from the ground to nail Pettibone that resonated after the game, even with the Phillies.
''I wanted to snap something that way,'' Pettibone said. ''It's going to be on Top Ten. He's a good player. You just tip your cap.''
Arenado was more understated in describing his stellar play.
''I was just able to make a dive,'' he said. ''It was just reaction. I got the ball, and from an angle I just threw it, tried to get the ball out of my hand as quick as I could. Luckily (Jordan) Pacheco made a great scoop.''
Chatwood (4-1) also had a pretty good day at the plate. He boosted his average to .437 (7 for 16) with 5 RBIs in his first game since June 3, when he left after four innings at Cincinnati because of right triceps soreness. He missed one start before Saturday's outing when he allowed two runs and seven hits.
Pettibone (3-3) was hit hard from the outset and left after three innings, his shortest outing of the season.
Winless in six starts, Pettibone gave up 10 hits and seven runs, including six in the first when the Rockies sent 10 batters to the plate and matched their highest-scoring inning of the season.
''He had a rough time there,'' Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. ''They hit some balls good off him. We can't get CarGo out. The catcher, we kept feeding him balls over the plate, and he kept smoking them to the same place. Things kind of snowballed, we got a little sloppy.
''We gave them outs, and you can't do that. Especially in this ballpark. They'll burn you because they've got a good team.''
The Phillies took a 1-0 lead on Michael Young's RBI single but the Rockies strung together six consecutive hits in the bottom of the first, including a run-scoring single by Michael Cuddyer, an RBI double by Gonzalez, an RBI triple by Rosario, and a two-run homer by Colvin.
Colorado extended its lead to 10-2 with three runs in the fourth. The Rockies turned it into a rout with run-scoring singles from Arenado and Chatwood and an RBI double from Rosario.
The Phillies added three runs in the eighth on Ryan Howard's RBI double and John Mayberry's two-run homer off Chris Volstad.
NOTES: Rockies OF Dexter Fowler was out of the starting lineup for a second straight game. He was hit by a pitch on Thursday when he squared to bunt. Fowler appeared as a pinch runner and played an inning in the field on Friday but Weiss said Fowler is still having trouble gripping a bat. ... Young is two RBIs shy of 1,000. ... Cuddyer's first-inning single extended his hitting streak to 13 games, the longest by a Rockies player this season. ... The Phillies lost for just the fourth time in 23 games when they score at least four runs.