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Hamilton belts two homers to lead Reds past Rockies

May 7, 2007 - 12:51 AM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Rookie Josh Hamilton's storybook season gets more dramatic by the day.

Hamilton belted a pair of home runs to help the Cincinnati Reds drub the Colorado Rockies, 9-3, and avert a three-game sweep.

Bronson Arroyo (2-2) worked five strong innings before running into trouble in the sixth as the Reds snapped a four-game losing streak.

Ryan Freel and Alex Gonzalez also homered for Cincinnati, which banged out 12 hits against four Colorado pitchers. Freel and Adam Dunn had triples and Scott Hatteberg chipped in an RBI ground-rule double.

Three relievers finished up for Cincinnati, with David Weathers getting his sixth save after working out of an eight-inning jam.

Hamilton, a former No. 1 overall pick in 1999 whose once-promising career appeared to be derailed by drugs and alcohol addiction, turned in a highlight-reel performance against the Rockies.

Not only did Hamilton collect his first two-homer game, the center fielder threw a bullet to nail Rockies leadoff hitter Willy Taveras at third base to stifle a fourth-inning rally and made an over-the-shoulder catch to rob Brad Hawpe in the eighth.

"I've always enjoyed playing defense. It's fun," Hamilton said. "I'd almost rather have a good defensive game than offensive game. But after the first home run I thought it would be nice to have a multi-home run game."

Hamilton, who turns 26 years old on May 21, hit a two-run shot in the fourth inning off Josh Fogg (1-3) for a 5-0 lead and added a solo blast in the seventh to make it 7-3. He has eight home runs and 17 RBI, hiking his average to .306 on the season.

"He had a couple off-the-field problems. otherwise, he's as good a rookie as there is right now," Fogg said. "He had a good series, put some good swings on some good pitches, hit the ball hard all series long. It's good to see a guy who has battled through adversity and been able to come back and do that. I wish it wasn't against us but it's good to see a guy that's been able to turn his life around like that."

This from a player who has never played above Class AA and was a Rule V pick of the Reds in December. He had missed three full seasons (2003-2005) and played in just 15 games in 2006 in Class A.

"Josh is a lot of fun to watch," Cincinnati manager Jerry Narron said. "I really believe that he is going to get better. He's only scratching the surface. He's had to make adjustments already. After missing four years, I'm amazed at what he can do."

One night earlier, Hamilton went 4-for-5 in a 9-7 loss, coming up a home run short of the cycle.

"He showed up big for them. he's played what, 16 or 17 games out of (Class) A ball? An impressive weekend," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "An impressive start. He was drafted in the first round. It's not like he can't play.

"I think there was one run where he hit six bullets in a row. We saw nothing but barrel (of the bat) the last two games."

Todd Helton had two hits, including a two-run single in the three-run sixth off Arroyo, who allowed three runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. The righthander struck out seven and walked three in winning his second straight decision.

"It was one of those days that I had to battle," Arroyo said. "Helton's at bat in the sixth took a lot out of me. It was like stealing a win from one of those good starts."

Fogg lasted five innings, yielding five runs and seven hits while striking out four and walking five.

"Threw way too many pitches to way too many hitters right now," Fogg said. "Five walks, but even the guys I didn't walk, I was getting myself in hitter-friendly counts and having to come back to the middle of the plate and it's costing me."