Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) – Carlos Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, two RBI and two runs scored as the Colorado Rockies took a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second of a four-game set.
Troy Tulowitzki went 3-for-5 with an RBI while Dexter Fowler scored twice and drove in a run for the Rockies, who have won six of their last eight. Jason Hammel (8-6) went six innings and was charged with three runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Pedro Alvarez clubbed a three-run home run to account for the offense for the Pirates, who have lost seven of their last nine. Zach Duke was tagged for three runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts over six innings in the start. Chan Ho Park (0-1), in his Pittsburgh debut, was handed the loss for giving up the go-ahead run in the seventh.
The Rockies got on the board in the first inning when Gonzalez clubbed a 1-1 pitch over the wall in dead center for a 1-0 lead.
Colorado tacked on two more runs in the third to make it a 3-0 game. Clint Barmes led off with a single and later moved to second on a balk. Fowler followed with an RBI double and then came home when Todd Helton belted a single to right.
Pittsburgh put runners on first and second with one out in the third, but Jose Tabata hit into a double play to kill the threat.
The Pirates finally got on the board in the sixth inning. Tabata hit a one-out single and Neil Walker was then hit by a pitch. After Garrett Jones struck out, Alvarez deposited a pitch into the right field seats to tie the game.
Colorado, though, grabbed the lead back in the seventh. With two outs, Gonzalez kept the inning alive with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Tulowitzki then dumped a single into left field to score Gonzalez for a 4-3 lead.
Matt Belisle, who worked the seventh, gave up a leadoff single to Tabata to start the eighth, but then picked him off. After striking out Walker, Joe Biemel came on and got Jones to ground out and end the frame.
Fowler led off the ninth with a blast to deep center that went off the top of the wall and was initially ruled a home run. The umpires, though, reviewed the play and Fowler was awarded a triple. After Helton walked, Gonzalez lofted a sacrifice fly to plate Fowler. Tulowitzki followed with a single and Jason Giambi punched a pinch-hit single up the middle to score Helton for a 6-3 lead.
Huston Street worked around a one-out single in the ninth to pick up his seventh save of the season.
Hammel was 0-3 in his previous four starts…Pittsburgh has won three of the five games against Colorado this season…Hammel is 1-1 in three career games against the Pirates…Colorado left 10 men on base…Game time was 3:19…Before the game, Pittsburgh optioned pitcher Justin Thomas to Triple-A Indianapolis.