DENVER — The Colorado Rockies connected for five homers and not one by a player named CarGo or Tulo.
"Can’t count on (them) to do all the damage," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said.
They definitely showed that there’s more to this team than sluggers Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki.
Charlie Blackmon hit two homers and Jorge De La Rosa threw five efficient innings, lifting the Colorado Rockies to an 8-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Monday night.
Nolan Arenado, Wilin Rosario and Corey Dickerson also homered for the Rockies, who’ve won four of the last five. It was Blackmon’s first multihomer game of his career.
"When we’re clicking as a team, and everybody is hitting the ball hard, up and down the order, it’s just that feeling of, ‘We’re going to get ’em,"’ said Blackmon, who raised his average to .411. "Obviously, you’d like to save some of your home runs for those really close games, but it’s also nice to take them when you can get them."
De La Rosa (1-3) rediscovered his rhythm, allowing five hits and one run for his first victory of the season. The hard-throwing lefty tied a career high with 16 wins last season.
He also was on the same page with Rosario all night, something that wasn’t the case during the season opener in Miami when the battery mates couldn’t get their signals straight. Backup catcher Jordan Pacheco has been behind the plate for De La Rosa’s last three starts.
But Weiss didn’t want to create a situation where De La Rosa had a personal catcher, so he went with Rosario, who actually had a calming influence on the sometimes excitable De La Rosa.
In the third inning, Rosario sauntered out to the mound to briefly chat with De La Rosa after he loaded the bases with no outs. Rosario basically told him to relax and it worked as Buster Posey hit into a 6-4-3 double play — bringing in a run — and Michael Morse flew out to left.
"Mixed my pitches really good with Wilin," De La Rosa said. "That was the key."
Rosario also helped his pitcher out at the plate, too, lining a three-run homer. It’s his third homer of the season.
De La Rosa walked off the mound in the fifth to applause after striking out Morse to escape a jam with runners on second and third. Tommy Kahnle took over and struck out five in two innings. It’s just the sixth time a reliever has done that in Rockies history.
Ryan Vogelsong (0-1) never got on track and was pulled after 1 1-3 innings, his shortest start with the Giants. He surrendered five runs and six hits, including three homers.
"I’m definitely not happy about it," Vogelsong said. "It’s embarrassing really."
Colorado pounced on the Giants in the first, with Arenado and Rosario hitting homers off Vogelsong, who threw 44 pitches in the inning.
It didn’t get any better in the second when Blackmon hit a solo homer off Vogelsong. The Giants pulled him four batters later.
His replacement, reliever David Huff, bailed the Giants out of more trouble by getting an inning ending double play. Huff strained his left quadriceps muscle running out his first big league hit the next inning and was taken out of the game.
Huff will get an MRI on Tuesday.
"It doesn’t look good," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "More than likely he’s heading to the DL."
The Rockies placed right fielder Michael Cuddyer on the disabled list Monday with a strained left hamstring. Blackmon slid over to right and Dickerson played centre. They were a combined 5 of 8 with three homers.
"It’s nice when the rest of the lineup is doing some damage," Weiss said.
NOTES: OF Angel Pagan was ejected in the seventh for arguing a called third strike. … Vogelsong’s shortest start of his career was Sept. 24, 2004, when he was with Pittsburgh. He faced seven Cincinnati batters and didn’t record an out. … LHP Madison Bumgarner (2-1) will take the mound Tuesday. The Rockies counter with lefty Franklin Morales (1-1). … 1B Justin Morneau was named the NL player of the week Monday after hitting .375. … Arenado, who was moved up to the No. 2 spot in the order, extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games.
