Rockies thrash Pirates

DJ LeMahieu #9 of the Colorado Rockies watches his two run homerun off of Jeff Locke #49 of the Pittsburgh Pirates to take a 8-5 lead in the fourth inning at Coors Field on June 9, 2016 in Denver, Colorado.

(June 9, 2016 - Source: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images North America)

The Colorado Rockies thrash the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-5 in the makeup game of 28 April.

The Pirates were the first team to score. 1B John Jaso led the first inning off with a single. With one out, RF Gregory Polanco hit into fielder’s choice and advanced to second base on a throwing error by SS Trevor Story. LF Starling Marte followed and drove in Gregory Polanco with an RBI single.

The Rockies responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame. CF Charlie Blackmon hit a leadoff single and 2B DJ LeMahieu batted him in with a double. 3B Nolan Arenado followed with a single and moved DJ LeMahieu to third base.

DJ LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado came home on a triple by LF Ryan Raburn, who scored Colorado’s fourth run when 1B Mark Reynolds grounded out.

Colorado added another two runs in the second inning when Nolan Arenado doubled with one out to drive C Dustin Garneau and DJ LeMahieu home.

The Pirates threatened a comeback in the third inning as they scored four runs and cut the lead to one. 3B David Freese hit a three-run homer with one out, batting in CF Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte. 2B Josh Harrison scored Pittsburgh’s fifth run on a two-out single by C Chris Stewart.

Over the next two innings Colorado pulled away and never looked back. RP Jorge De La Rosa drew a leadoff walk and DJ LeMahieu hit a one-out home run to make it 8-5 after four innings.

Colorado loaded the bases in the fifth inning with a leadoff single from Trevor Story, a one-out single by RF Gerardo Parra and a walk to Dustin Garneau. Jorge De La Rosa laid down a sacrifice bunt to bring Trevor Story home and Charlie Blackmon followed with a single to drive in Gerardo Parra and Dustin Garneau for the 11-5 lead.

Pittsburgh’s SP Jeff Locke (5-4) pitched 4.2 innings, surrendering 11 hits, 3 walks and 11 earned runs while striking out 2. His ERA and WHIP increased to 5.38 and 1.43, respectively.

Colorado’s SP Chad Bettis struggled in his 3 innings of work, allowing 7 hits and 4 earned runs while fanning 4. He now has a 5.85 ERA with a 1.48 WHIP on the season.

Jorge De La Rosa (2-4), who replaced Chad Bettis, pitched four perfect innings and struck out 5 batters.

DJ LeMahieu went 2-for-3 with 3 runs, 1 HR and 3 RBI. He is batting .308 this year and has 34 runs, 4 HR and 21 RBI.

The Pittsburgh Pirates (32-28) return home to play a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals (31-28) from Friday to Sunday.

The Colorado Rockies (28-32) host a three-game series against the San Diego Padres (25-36) from Friday through Sunday.