DENVER (AP) -- 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.
