The Colorado Rockies picked up a 13-5 victory over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night, ensuring a series victory and winning a third-straight game. Carlos Gonzalez homered three times in the victory while shortstop Troy Tulowitzki left the game in the sixth inning with a strained left groin.
The Rockies opened up the scoring with a Michael Cuddyer grand slam (6) in the first inning, but by the end of the third inning the Astros came back and tied the game at 5-5. Christian Friedrich (3-1, 5.59 ERA), however, settled down after that and completed the next three innings without allowing another run. He allowed five runs on 11 hits in six innings, striking out six in the process.
Lucas Harrell (4-4, 4.71 ERA) allowed the first of Gonzalez's home runs in the fifth inning and then had a disaster of a sixth inning for Houston. He allowed a single to Wilin Rosario on a single and saw an error move him over to second base. Jordan Pacheco drove in Rosario with a single during the next at-bat. An Eric Young Jr. single chased Harrell out of the game and set up Dexter Fowler for a three-run home run (8) and the 10-5 lead. A Marco Scutaro single later, Carlos Gonzalez added two more runs with his second home run of the game. He hit his third homer of the game (and 13th of the season) in the eighth inning.
Tulowitzki left in the sixth inning after limping back to the dugout after a groundout to second base during the sixth inning. Scutaro moved to shortstop and DJ LeMahieu took over second base.
The Rockies (20-29, 12-14 home) close out this series on Thursday night with Jeremy Guthrie on the mound.
For more news and notes on these teams, visit Rockies blog Purple Row and Astros blog Crawfish Boxes. Head over to Baseball Nation and MLB Daily Dish for more news and notes around the league.