The Colorado Rockies were just a pitch away from picking up a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night, but Huston Street hanged a pitch and saw John Mayberry Jr. hit a game-tying two run home run in the top of the ninth. It didn't get any better in the top of the 10th, as Shane Victorino homered to left field for the 4-3 lead. The Rockies went down easily in the bottom of the inning for the loss.
Rockies outfielder Seth Smith, who usually doesn't play against left-handers, put the team up. 2-0, when he sent a Cole Hamels pitch over the center field wall for his ninth home run of the season. The Phillies countered in the seventh inning with a Raul Ibanez double to drive in Hunter Pence, but Chris Iannetta came right back with his 11th home run of the season to start the bottom of the seventh.
Both Hamels (12-6, 2.62 ERA) and Jhoulys Chacin (8-8, 3.38 ERA) gave outstanding efforts. Those runs were the only blemishes on their lines. Chacin, though he struck out just two, more than made up for it with ground balls. He left in the eighth inning with two outs to go. Matt Reynolds allowed a Chase Utley single and got Ryan Howard on a grounder to second, but runners were on second and third. Rafael Betancourt came in and struck out Pence to end the threat.
The Rockies (51-58, 26-27 home) will turn to Aaron Cook on Tuesday to find better results against the Phillies, who start Kyle Kendrick. The scheduled start time is 6:40 p.m. MT.
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