Tulowitzki homers twice in leading Rockies past Arizona 13-4 for 8th straight win

Tulowitzki homers twice, Rockies win 8th straight

DENVER — Troy Tulowitzki homered twice in the latest installment of a torrid power surge and Jorge De La Rosa struck out a season-high 10 in six innings to lead the Colorado Rockies past the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-4 on Friday night for their season-high eighth consecutive victory.

Tulowitzki also doubled and walked in going 3 for 3 with four runs scored in his third career multihomer game. He has eight homers in his last eight games — a span in which he’s batting .444 (16 for 36) — and reached 20 homers in a season for the third time in his career.

De La Rosa (7-4) struck out the side in the fourth inning and fanned at least one batter in each of the innings he pitched in winning his third consecutive decision.

He allowed two runs and five hits, including Chris Young’s 25th homer in the second. But De La Rosa also hit an RBI double in a six-run third inning to help the Rockies stay close in the NL West race and the NL wild card chase.

The Rockies capitalized on an erratic outing by Joe Saunders (2-5), who gave up seven runs and five hits in 2 1-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season. He struck out one and walked four, the last with the bases loaded, in dropping a September start for the first time in his last 12 outings in the month dating to 2007.

Colorado broke the game open in the third, with Tuolowitzki doubling to right to drive in the first of the Rockies’ six runs in the inning. Saunders walked the next three batters, leaving in favor of D.J. Carrasco after forcing in a run with his final walk. Miguel Olivo greeted Carrasco with a bases-clearing triple and De La Rosa doubled over the head of left fielder Rusty Ryal to drive in the inning’s sixth run for 8-1 lead.

The Diamondbacks added a run in the fourth on pinch-hitter Cole Gillespie’s groundout but Tulowitzki answered in the bottom of the fourth with a drive off Carrasco that sailed 15 rows into the left field bleachers.

Eric Young Jr. and Ryan Spilborghs had RBI singles around Tulowitzki’s second homer in the sixth inning, off reliever Zach Kroenke, who was making his major league debut.

In a fitting exclamation to the Rockies’ offensive surge, Chris Iannetta homered to center in the eighth off reliever Jordan Norberto for Colorado’s final run. Ryan Church had a run-scoring double and pinch-hitter Ryan Roberts a sacrifice fly off Matt Daley in the ninth.

NOTES: Rockies third baseman Ian Stewart, trying to come back from a strained right oblique that has sidelined him since Aug. 27, could play catch on the side Saturday. … Olivo’s triple in the third was his career-best sixth of the season. He had five last year. … It was the fifth time in his career De La Rosa has had 10 or more strikeouts in a game. His career high is 12. … Saunders had allowed only four runs in 15 innings over his two previous starts. … Todd Helton’s double in the sixth was the 525th of his career, tying him with Ted Williams for 35th on the all-time list. … Rockies reliever Edgmer Escalona pitched a scoreless eighth in his major league debut. … The Diamondbacks are still 11-8 in their last 19 games against fellow NL West teams.