DENVER -- Michael Wacha kept the Colorado hitters off balance most of the night. The few times he was off the Rockies made him pay.
Wacha matched a career high with 10 strikeouts but Nolan Arenado's homer and DJ LeMahieu's tiebreaking double were enough for the Rockies to rally past the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3, on Tuesday night.
Wacha (8-2) matched a career high with 10 strikeouts but gave up four runs on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings. It was his first loss on the road this season. He had entered 6-0 with a 1.59 ERA away from home, tops in the majors.
"Really, the one fastball up ended up costing him two," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "After that he worked to keep himself right there in the game. The big double with two outs into these big gaps is enough to put him in a bad spot."
With the score tied at 2-2 in the seventh, pinch-hitter Wilin Rosario, who was batting for De La Rosa, singled off Wacha. One out later, LeMahieu doubled to the centerfield wall, scoring Rosario.
Wacha intentionally walked Troy Tulowitzki and was relieved by Randy Choate, who promptly gave up an RBI single to Carlos Gonzalez.
"I felt good the whole night. I just left some pitches over the middle of the plate and they didn't miss them," Wacha said. "I've got to do a better job of making better pitches in those situations."
Peter Bourjos homered in the eighth off reliever Boone Logan and the Cardinals later loaded the bases with two outs but Yadier Molina flied out to center to end the inning.
"Two on nobody out, and opportunity to create some damage," Matheny said of the eighth. "That's a big spot for us. Those are the ones we've got to get the big hits."
Jorge De La Rosa (3-2) allowed two runs on three hits and struck out eight in notching his 72nd career win with Colorado, tying Aaron Cook's team record.
The Cardinals were without slugging left fielder Matt Holliday, who went on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right quad. He suffered the injury Monday night when he tripped and took a hard fall trying to chase down a fly ball in left.
"We'll take those 15 days and reevaluate because we don't know how it's going to heal in that time," Matheny said before the game. "We'll take that time to figure out. Matt's been kind of freakish in his ability to bounce back from things."
St. Louis broke up the scoreless game in the fifth inning. Jon Jay reached second base when Randal Grichuck was caught in a rundown between third and second on Jay's fielder's choice. Bourjos followed by drilling a run-scoring single up the middle.
Jhonny Peralta upped the Cardinals' lead in the sixth when he connected for his 10th homer, a solo shot off the lower rim of the second deck.
The Rockies evened the score in their half of the sixth when Arenado drove an 0-1 pitch from Wacha deep into the left field bleachers after Gonzalez had singled ahead of him. It was Arenado's 15th homer of the season.
"He got on top of one (Monday) too and hurt us pretty bad," Matheny said.
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TRAINER'S ROOM
Cardinals: Matheny says the team will wait to see how Holliday progresses in the coming days before trying to determine a timetable for his return. Holliday was placed on the 15-day disabled list earlier in the day and the Cardinals filled his roster spot by recalling RHP Miguel Socolovich.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (6-2) will be seeking a fourth straight win when he starts Wednesday's series finale against the Rockies.
