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Rockies win 10th straight, beating Mariners

Jun 14, 2009 - 5:08 AM DENVER(AP) -- The Colorado Rockies have turned a few heads with their recent success. Don't count manager Jim Tracy among them.

"What's happening now, I saw back in February," said Tracy, 12-4 since he took over for the fired Clint Hurdle on May 29. "I saw the talent of these players that are young, but whose capabilities don't surprise me at all."

Chris Iannetta broke a tie with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and the Rockies ran their winning streak to 10, beating Seattle 5-3 on Saturday night.

"This is a young team, but it is surrounded by two very professional people in Todd Helton and Brad Hawpe," Tracy said. "They delivered some big hits and those younger kids are feeding off of those guys."

Clint Barmes also drove in a run with a fly ball in a two-run ninth inning off Mark Lowe (0-4). Helton and Hawpe also had an RBI each for the Rockies.

"This team is playing good baseball," Helton said. "Guys are extending at-bats, making opposing pitchers work more and wearing them down a bit.

The Rockies are within a win of matching the franchise record of 11 consecutive victories set from Sept. 16-27, 2007 when they made a run to the World Series.

"We're different from that team," Helton said. "It's a different year with a different group of guys."

Jason Marquis limited the Mariners to a run and seven hits in seven innings, but was denied the decision. He also had an RBI with a bases-loaded walk for the Rockies' first run in the second inning.

"I didn't get the win, but the team did," Marquis said. "That's all that matters."

Manuel Corpas (1-3) got the win after giving up Jose Lopez's tying two-run homer in the eighth. Huston Street pitched the ninth for his 13th save in 14 opportunities.

The start of the game was delayed 42 minutes by rain.

Working on a pitch count limit of 60, Brandon Morrow worked the first three innings, allowing a run on three hits, fanned four and walked four. Morrow replaced Erik Bedard, who manager Don Wakamatsu announced Friday would miss this start due to left shoulder inflammation.

Chris Jakubauskas took over in the fourth inning and worked three scoreless innings. Lowe gave up two runs on one hit in the Colorado eighth.

Adrian Beltre had a pair of two-out doubles and an RBI single.

"We're playing a club that's hot, one that's playing good, getting some breaks and we're not," Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said of the Rockies. "When you're playing against a team that's playing that well, you can't make the mistakes we made."

Colorado's eighth began with Troy Tulowitzki's swinging bunt that Lowe fielded, but he threw the ball into right field to put Tulowitzki on second base. Tulowitzki beat Lowe's throw to third on a fielder's choice bunt by Carlos Gonzalez.

"You work hard on that kind of stuff in spring training," Lowe said. "That's pretty fundamental stuff."

Iannetta's fly ball to right scored Tulowitzki. Two batters later, Barmes drove in Gonzalez with a fly ball to center.

Morrow issued a two-out walk to Marquis with the bases loaded in the Colorado second to put the Rockies ahead 1-0. Morrow ended the inning by getting Dexter Fowler to roll out to first.

The Mariners tied it at 1 with a two-out rally begun by Ichiro Suzuki's infield single. Russell Branyan walked and Beltre slapped a single up the middle to score Suzuki.

Seattle put together another two-out threat in the seventh inning when Suzuki reached on a bunt single and Branyan walked. Marquis escaped by getting Beltre to ground out to shortstop.

Helton broke the 1-1 tie in the Colorado seventh with a broken-bat single to right to score pinch-hitter Seth Smith, who led off the inning with a single. Hawpe doubled off the wall in center, scoring Helton and giving the Rockies a 3-1 lead.

Lopez didn't let lead last long, tying the game at 3-3 with his ninth home run of the year. He followed a leadoff walk to Ken Griffey Jr. with a line drive home run over the left field wall off Corpas.

NOTES: Mariners RHP Roy Corcoran, coming off a rehab assignment at Triple-A Tacoma, was activated him from the disabled list. ... Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr. made only the second start of his career in left field and his fourth start in the outfield this season. ... The Rockies have put any plans for a RHP Taylor Buchholz's rehab on hold after his bullpen session was shut down after 17 pitches when he developed some discomfort in right elbow.