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Rockies beat Phillies to split series

May 22, 2015 - 1:13 AM Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Michael McKenry's two-run homer in the fifth inning gave the Colorado Rockies the lead for good in a 7-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.

Brandon Barnes was 4-for-4 with an RBI single and a run scored for the Rockies, who beat the streaking Phillies twice to split the four-game series and improve to 4-15 in their last 19.

Starter Jorge De La Rosa gave up three runs in just 4 1/3 innings, but also struck out five to become the Rockies' all-time leader in strikeouts with 774.

Christian Bergman (2-0), Scott Oberg, Boone Logan, Rafael Betancourt and John Axford combined to throw 4 2/3 scoreless innings behind De La Rosa.

"The bullpen did a great job again," said Rockies manager Walt Weiss. "Jorge really labored through the outing, but he dodged some bullets and kept us in position to win the game, but it certainly wasn't easy."

Jerome Williams (3-4) took the loss after giving up five runs, eight hits and three walks in five innings.

Ryan Howard continued his hot streak for Philadelphia in the middle of a revamped lineup, homering for the second straight day and for the third time in his last eight games.

The Phillies, who won seven of their last eight entering the game, shuffled their order and also got production from the three hitters in front of Howard.

Freddy Galvis, whose .319 average is among the NL leaders, singled and scored a run while batting leadoff for only the second time in his career.

Chase Utley hit No. 2 for the second time this season and continued his recent surge, going 2-for-4 with a triple and a run scored. Darin Ruf hit third for the first time in two weeks and produced two hits and two RBI.

Galvis scored the Phillies' first run in the third inning and Utley and Howard fueled a two-run fifth that briefly tied the score. Utley hit his first triple since last Sept. 8 and scored on Ruf's sacrifice fly before Howard homered on De La Rosa's final pitch.

Howard has hit all nine of his home runs this season in his last 28 games, including a towering 454-foot blast in Thursday's 4-3 win.

Utley, relegated to batting sixth during a recent four-game span, is hitting .333 (13-for-39) in 12 games since his average dipped to .099 on May 8.

McKenry hit his first homer of the season in the bottom of the inning to give the Rockies a 5-3 lead. The blast to left scored Ben Paulson, who had singled.

"I didn't know anything about him," Williams said of McKenry. "I attacked him how I wanted to attack him and he hit the ball out."

Colorado tacked on two runs in the seventh against Elvis Araujo on consecutive RBI singles by Daniel Descalso and Nolan Arenado.

Galvis singled and scored a run on Ruf's hit in the top of the third, but the Rockies came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Troy Tulowitzki hit a two-run single but was later thrown out at home on Barnes' RBI single to right fielder Jeff Francoeur.

Game Notes

De La Rosa broke Ubaldo Jimenez's record for strikeouts by a Rockies pitcher. He is two wins shy of tying Aaron Cook's franchise record of 72 ... Howard is hitting .290 in his last 28 games. His home run was caught by a young Phillies fan using his glove in the left-center field stands ... Galvis' only other game at the leadoff spot came May 5, 2013, when he went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI in a 14-2 loss to the Marlins ... The Phillies have six games left on a 10-game road trip. They start a three-game series in Washington on Friday ... The Rockies remain at home to host San Francisco in a four-game series.