DENVER — The Milwaukee Brewers built an early six-run lead Friday night and went on to beat the Colorado Rockies 9-5 and break a six-game losing streak.
The Rockies’ misery continued. They have lost five straight games and nine of their past 10 and fell to 0-3 on their current eight-game homestand at Coors Field, where their record is 13-21.
The Rockies have given up 33 runs in their past four games, when their starters have gone 0-4 with a 10.42 ERA (19 innings, 22 earned runs).
The Brewers had scored just 13 runs during their six-game skid but jumped on Jorge De La Rosa, who has been Colorado’s most reliable starter lately. His four-game winning streak ended as he yielded a season-high 11 hits and six runs in five innings.
He gave up homers in the first to Ryan Braun, a two-run shot, and third baseman Aramis Ramirez and allowed one run in each of the next three innings. Indeed, De La Rosa (4-3) never set the Brewers down in order and only in the fifth, his final inning, did De La Rosa hold the Brewers scoreless.
Taylor Jungmann (2-1) worked six innings in his third career start and held the Rockies to one hit, an infield single, until they erupted for three runs in the fourth.
After the Rockies cut the lead to 6-4 on Ben Paulsen’s one-out triple in the sixth, which left him a home run shy of the cycle, the Brewers made it 9-4 in the seventh, which began with four straight hits against Christian Bergman.
First baseman Jason Rogers tripled home a run and left fielder Shane Peterson, who went 3-for-4, followed with a single. LaTroy Hawkins got pinch hitter Hector Gomez to ground into a double play that moved a runner to third, and shortstop Jean Segura singled on a slow roller that third baseman Nolan Arenado was unable to pick up bare-handed.
Center fielder Charlie Blackmon tripled home a run with two outs in the ninth, but Jonathan Broxton threw a called third strike past second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who had started for first on the payoff pitch and slammed his helmet to the ground at home plate umpire Bill Miller’s call.
De La Rosa, the Rockies’ only reliable starter the past few weeks, came into the game 4-0 with a 2.56 ERA in his last five starts but gave up three runs in the first inning and one run in each of the next three innings as the Brewers built a 6-0 lead.
The Rockies cut their deficit in half in the fourth when third baseman Arenado tripled home two runs and first baseman Ben Paulsen followed with a run-scoring double against Jungmann, who made his third career start.
De La Rosa left after throwing 101 pitches in five innings and allowing a season-high 11 hits. He had yielded four homers in 47 2/3 innings in his previous nine starts but gave up two in the first inning.
Right fielder Ryan Braun followed center fielder Gerardo Parra’s double with a two-run blast, driving a first-pitch fastball over the fence in center field for his 14th homer of the season. Braun entered the game hitless in his past 14 at-bats and one for his past 23 but was 10-for-14 with three homers against De La Rosa.
With two outs, third baseman Aramis Ramirez hit his eighth homer of the season, an opposite-field shot to right center on De La Rosa’s 1-1 changeup.
The Brewers made it 4-0 in the second on second baseman Hernan Perez’s double off the wall in left center for his first RBI of the season. Perez played in his 14th game and made his fifth start for Milwaukee since being claimed off waivers on June 2 from Detroit.
With one out in the third, De La Rosa gave up two singles and two walks, the second to left fielder Shane Peterson with the bases loaded to make it 5-0.
De La Rosa loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth on two singles and a hit batter. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy followed with a sacrifice fly to give Milwaukee a 6-0 lead.
NOTES: Rockies RHP Rafael Betancourt (vertigo symptoms) threw 25 pitches in a simulated game, had no dizziness or lack of energy and likely will make a rehab appearance on Sunday for Triple-A Albuquerque. He has been on the 15-day disabled list since June 7. … Brewers CF Carlos Gomez was not in the lineup for the sixth time in nine games because of a strained right hip, but he did some running drills before the game and thought he made progress for the first time. … Brewers RHP Taylor Jungmann flared a single to right in the fifth inning for his first major league.
