• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Hawpe propels Rockies to fourth straight win

Jun 17, 2007 - 5:36 AM DENVER (Ticker) -- Jason Hirsh could not duplicate his last outing, but the Colorado Rockies powered their way to a victory nonetheless.

Brad Hawpe belted his first career grand slam and Garrett Atkins and Willy Taveras also homered as the Rockies overcame a rough start by Hirsh on Saturday to record a 10-5 triumph over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

In his 22nd career start on Sunday, Hirsh tossed his first complete game against the Baltimore Orioles, allowing just one run and five hits in the win. In this one, the righthander struggled mightily despite being staked to a 6-1 lead after three innings.

"I didn't do a very good job of shutting down their hitters," Hirsh said. "I left a couple pitches up. They're a good team and they made me pay for it. It's a character builder, how you bounce back from adversity. You're going to go through rough stretches in your career, and how you bounce back is what matters."

Colorado manager Clint Hurdle was not pleased with Hirsh's performance.

"Hirsh was below average," he said. "He couldn't get the ball down in the zone, his command was off and his breaking stuff wasn't sharp. It wasn't a good night for him."

Hirsh lasted just 4 1/3 frames, surrendering five runs, six hits and four walks. But the Rockies never squandered their advantage after letting the Devil Rays creep within 7-5 in the fifth, scoring once in the sixth and twice in the seventh en route to their fourth straight win and 10th in 13 games.

Taylor Buchholz (4-3) picked up the victory after allowing a hit in 1 2/3 innings. LaTroy Hawkins, Jorge Julio and Brian Fuentes each tossed a scoreless frame to preserve the win.

"Our bullpen was exceptional tonight," Hurdle said. "Buchholz came into a tough situation and got two flyball outs. Our bullpen was very impressive. They have a lot of confidence right now and I have a lot of confidence in them."

Hawpe gave Hirsh a seemingly comfortable lead early, belting a 2-2 offering from rookie Andy Sonnanstine (1-1) over the right field wall with the bases loaded in the first for Colorado's third grand slam this season.

"It's nice," Hawpe said of his first slam. "You want to be able to hit in your own ballpark, drive in some runs. It felt good. (The pitch) was down, I just happened to get it on the good part of the bat."

"It was a pretty bad pitch," Sonnanstine admitted. "I made a mistake, he put a pretty good swing on it and I have to tip my hat to him."

The Rockies have outscored their opponents, 31-13, in the first inning at home this year.

"(Sonnanstine) was one pitch away from getting out of that first inning," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "When he locates his breaking ball, he's a very good pitcher. One pitch away, it didn't happen."

Brendan Harris got back a run for Tampa Bay in the third with an RBI double, but Atkins launched a two-run shot in the bottom of the frame for a 6-1 bulge. It was the seventh homer of the campaign for Atkins and third in as many games.

The Devil Rays rallied for three runs in the fourth to cut the deficit to two. After Carlos Pena led off the inning with his 15th blast, Delmon Young singled and scored on a triple by Jonny Gomes, who came home on a Raul Casanova's groundout.

Taveras smacked a 3-2 pitch just over the left field wall with two outs in the fourth to give Colorado a 7-4 advantage, but Harris answered with a leadoff shot in the fifth. That was as close as Tampa Bay would get, however, as pinch hitter Ryan Spilborghs delivered an RBI single in the sixth and Atkins added a run-scoring base hit an inning later.

"We have to stop them from scoring at some point," Maddon said. "We have to stop the bleeding and give ourselves a chance to catch up."

Hawpe followed Atkins' single with a fly ball to center. But after Young made the catch, he made a wild throw to third base that went into the dugout, allowing Todd Helton to cross the plate with the game's final run.

Sonnanstine lasted five innings, yielding seven runs, six hits and two walks while striking out five.

"It had to do a little bit with location, breaking pitches not breaking as usual," Sonnanstine said. "But I felt like I battled and gave us a shot to win."