Major League Baseball

Rockies slug 3 HRs in De La Rosa's 7-1 win over Dodgers

Published May. 17, 2015 12:17 a.m. ET

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LOS ANGELES (AP) The Colorado Rockies needed someone to pitch deep into the game, preserve an overworked bullpen and match zeros with the unbeaten Zack Greinke. Jorge De La Rosa fit the bill on all counts.

De La Rosa pitched two-hit ball over seven-plus scoreless innings before leaving with an injury, and the Colorado Rockies hit three home runs to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-1 on Saturday night, sending Greinke to his first loss of 2015.

''We talked before the game, and De La seemed to have a lot of confidence,'' said right fielder Carlos Gonzalez, who hit one of the Rockies' three home runs. ''I told him: `We need a big night from you,' and he stepped up and did a great job for us. The guy's a great pitcher. And if we're going to do something special, he'll have to be a big part of it.''

De La Rosa (1-2) retired 18 consecutive batters after Kike Hernandez led off the first inning with a double and Jimmy Rollins reached on a throwing error. The 34-year-old left-hander departed after giving up an infield single to Howie Kendrick with one out in the seventh.

''He was mixing up his pitches well and throwing them all for strikes, and we just didn't make the adjustment,'' Hernandez said.

Daniel Descalso and Nolan Arenado homered against Sergio Santos. The Dodgers' right-hander had four strikeouts in the eighth inning - one night after teammate Kenley Jansen made his season debut from the disabled list and fanned four batters in the eighth. In both cases, the first batter of the inning reached after the third strike got away from the catcher.

Rockies manager Walt Weiss was back in the dugout after missing two games because of an emergency appendectomy and leaving the reins to bench coach Tom Runnells.

''I picked a good night to come back,'' Weiss said. ''The appendectomy wasn't on the itinerary, and it kind of snuck up on me. It was weird, watching a game on the computer without having TV or anything.''

Greinke (5-1), who leads the majors with a 1.52 ERA, allowed four hits and no walks through six innings and struck out five before he was lifted for a pinch hitter with the Dodgers trailing 1-0. He was 22-1 in his previous 32 starts against NL West teams since joining the Dodgers - the only blemish, a 1-0 loss to the Rockies on Sept. 28, 2013, at Los Angeles.

''It happens,'' said Greinke, the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner. ''I felt pretty good. Our defense played really well, and there were a lot of good plays made behind me. But De La Rosa pitched better. Not much you can do about that.''

De La Rosa faced the NL West-leaders for the second time in seven days, after giving up six walks and five runs over four innings in a no-decision at Coors Field. He had surrendered 17 runs, 23 hits and 12 walks through 16 innings in his four previous starts after beginning the season on the disabled list with a groin strain.

Rafael Betancourt and Scott Oberg finished up the combined three-hitter. The Dodgers' run came in the ninth, when Oberg hit Justin Turner with a pitch with the bases loaded.

Gonzalez opened the scoring in the first with his solo homer to right-center. The Rockies made it 3-0 in the seventh against Sergio Santos with a one-out walk to Michael McKenry and Descalso's homer to right field, ending a drought of 334 at-bats since Aug. 2, 2013, when he hit two at Cincinnati for the St. Louis Cardinals.

''I wasn't guessing up there,'' Descalso said. ''He just put a changeup in a spot where I could drive it.''

Descalso started at shortstop in place of Troy Tulowitzki, who had tightness in his left quadriceps. In Friday night's 6-4 loss, Descalso hit a three-run double after Tulowitzki left the game in the third inning.

''He's a professional player. He's always been on the bench, pulling for everybody and waiting for his opportunity,'' Gonzalez said. ''It's really nice to see a guy like him take advantage of his opportunity, now that Tulo is a little sore.''

GLORY DAYS

On Old-timers Day, 10 members of the 1965 Dodgers were on hand to celebrate the golden anniversary their World Series championship - Sandy Koufax, Tommy Davis, Maury Wills, Ron Perranoski, Lou Johnson, Ron Fairly, Wes Parker, Jeff Torborg, Wally Moon and Al Ferrara. Former Cy Young winners and World Series champions Orel Hershiser (1988) and Fernando Valenzuela (1981) were the starting pitchers in the two-inning game.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Rockies: 1B Justin Morneau, who has missed three games since he was injured while diving for a ball on Wednesday night against the Angels, was placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list. In addition to his concussion symptoms, he has a cervical neck sprain. INF-OF Rafael Ynoa was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque.

UP NEXT

Rockies: RHP Kyle Kendrick (1-4) is 0-4 with a 9.27 ERA and 10 home runs allowed in six starts since his 10-0 win at Milwaukee on opening day. He last faced the Dodgers on April 17 at Los Angeles, losing a 7-3 decision to Clayton Kershaw.

Dodgers: RHP Mike Bolsinger (1-0) makes his third start for Los Angeles, following a no-decision on April 23 at San Francisco and an 11-1 victory over the Marlins last Tuesday at Chavez Ravine.

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