The Colorado Rockies put a two-game losing streak behind them on Monday evening with a 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki and Ramon Hernandez each drove in two runs for the win while the bullpen came through with a sterling effort in the seventh inning
The game didn't start off too well for Juan Nicasio, as he allowed a Matt Kemp home run (12) in the top of the first inning, but Gonzalez drove in the first of his runs with a ground out in the bottom of the inning. Neither team scored again until the fourth inning when Tulowitzki doubled in two runs and Ramon Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly, providing the Rockies with a 4-1 lead.
Former Rockies player Juan Uribe got to Nicasio in the sixth inning when he singled in James Loney (who had reached on a double). The Rockies struck in the bottom half of the inning with a Ramon Hernandez RBI double, ending Aaron Harang's night. Harang allowed five runs in 5.2 innings
Nicasio came out to start the seventh inning and allowed back-to-back singles, at which point manager Jim Tracy brought in Esmil Rogers. He walked Mark Ellis to load the bases, but he struck out Kemp, the hottest hitter in baseball, for the first out. Rex Brothers entered the game to face the lefty-hitting Andre Ethier and promptly struck him out. Edgmer Escalona then relieved Brothers and got Juan Rivera out to end the inning and preventing any runs from scoring.
Carlos Gonzalez added an RBI single to bring the game to a 6-2 lead for the Rockies.
The Rockies finished April at 11-11 (7-6 home) and will play Game 2 on Tuesday evening with Jhoulys Chacin on the mound.
For more on these teams, visit Rockies blog Purple Row and Dodgers blog True Blue LA. Head over to Baseball Nation and MLB Daily Dish for more news and notes around the majors.