Hawpe doubles home Smith in the ninth as the Rockies rally from 4 down to beat Atlanta, 8-7

Hawpe’s double in ninth rallies Rockies to win

DENVER — All-Star Brad Hawpe hit a game-ending RBI double and the Colorado Rockies rallied to beat the Atlanta Braves 8-7 on Sunday.

Seth Smith set up Hawpe’s clutch hit with a one-out single off Luis Valdez (0-1), who was making his major league debut. After Garrett Atkins flied out, Hawpe lined a 1-1 pitch into right-center to score Smith from first and give the Rockies a split of the four-game series.

Hawpe, Smith and Troy Tulowitzki homered for Colorado, and Huston Street (3-1) worked a perfect ninth for the win.

Brooks Conrad hit a two-run homer and finished with three hits for Atlanta, which led 7-3 after six innings.

Colorado pushed across three runs in the seventh and tied it in the eighth. Dexter Fowler scored on left fielder Garret Anderson’s error before Smith’s two-run homer cut it to 7-6. Pinch-hitter Ryan Spilborghs doubled in the tying run.

Jason Hammel gave up five runs and nine hits over three innings for Colorado. It was his shortest outing since he went three innings against San Diego on April 27.

Chipper Jones hit a sacrifice fly and Conrad had an RBI triple in Atlanta’s three-run first. Martin Prado gave the Braves a 4-0 lead with a run-scoring single in the second.

The Rockies chipped away at Atlanta’s lead. Hawpe hit his 14th homer in the second, Atkins singled in a run in the third and Tulowitzki’s leadoff homer in the fourth cut it to 5-3.

Kris Medlen went four-plus innings for Atlanta, allowing three runs and six hits.

NOTES: Rockies RHP Manuel Corpas (elbow) threw one inning for Triple-A Colorado Springs on Saturday and was scheduled to pitch again Sunday. The Rockies will examine him Wednesday. … Rockies 1B Todd Helton sat out with flulike symptoms. … The Braves activated INF Greg Norton (right ankle strain) from the 15-day disabled list and optioned OF Gregor Blanco to Triple-A Gwinnette. … Rockies C Yorvit Torrealba left in the seventh inning with a strained right hamstring.