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Hawpe powers Rockies past Brewers

Jun 8, 2008 - 3:53 AM By Brady Delander PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DENVER (Ticker) -- With two game-winning home runs in the two games since returning from the 15-day disabled list, Brad Hawpe is feeling more than fine. But one thing he is not feeling is boastful.

Hawpe hit his second career grand slam in the first inning Saturday night as the Colorado Rockies rolled over the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-2, for their fourth straight win.

"First of all, it's just two games. You don't want to make too much out of it," Hawpe said. "But to come back here and help get the win was a good situation. To get up there with the bases loaded, that was a good opportunity right there."

Chris Iannetta and Ian Stewart also homered for the Rockies, who beat the Brewers for the sixth consecutive time at Coors Field.

"Things get contagious in this game," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "We are doing the things that are important, using the big part of the field, putting the barrel on the ball, not fouling them back. Hitting can be contagious."

Rookie Greg Reynolds pitched six-plus stellar innings with his only struggles coming in the second frame when he allowed two runs off RBI singles by Russell Branyan and Jason Kendall.

"The decisive factor for me for a good outing or a bad outing is my fastball command," Reynolds said. "I felt like I had good control of the sinker and just pounded the zone with it to get a lot of ground balls."

Reynolds (1-3) picked up his first major league win and his first hit - a double to the right-field corner. He yielded just one hit outside of that second inning and worked one batter in the seventh inning before making way for the Rockies' bullpen.

"I think it was a little overdue," Reynolds said of his first career win. "But it feels great."

But Hawpe did enough damage in the first inning to remove any suspense, providing as many runs with one swing of the bat as Reynolds had received in any of his previous five big league starts.

In the bottom of the first, Ryan Spilborghs started a two-out scoring burst with a double and Todd Helton and Garrett Atkins followed with walks.

Hawpe, who hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the eighth inning against Milwaukee on Friday night, didn't wait until late in the game this time. He crushed a 1-1 pitch from Brewers starter Dave Bush (2-6) over the right-field wall for the Rockies' first grand slam of the season.

"For me personally, I'm just not trying to do too much. Just going up there and trying to put the barrel on the ball," Hawpe said.

Iannetta stepped to the plate next and took the first offering from Bush deep to give Colorado a 5-0 lead from which Milwaukee never recovered. Iannetta delivered another run in the eighth inning, an RBI single that plated Atkins.

"(Bush) made two bad pitches in the inning that hurt him, two pitches he'd like back," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "He gave the first guy (Hawpe) a pitch he could drive and the next guy (Iannetta) - boom - something he could drive, back to back."

Stewart hit his first home run of the season and second career in the fifth, sending his solo shot to the third deck. It was only the 28th time a ball has reached that level in the field's history.

"I don't think so," Stewart said when asked if he had ever hit a ball that deep before. "That's probably all I got."