Rockies Batter Marlins

Nolasco knocked around as Fish fall 12-5 in Colorado

Ricky Nolasco's first career loss to the Colorado Rockies, after a lengthy run of success, was a doozy.

Nolasco gave up a career-high 11 runs and the Rockies batted around twice during his three-inning stint as the Florida Marlins lost 12-5 on Wednesday night.

The previous high by a Marlins starter was 10 runs allowed, which had been done six times, most recently by Nolasco on Aug. 12, 2009, against Houston.

Aaron Cook (3-7) was a beneficiary of the Rockies' offensive outburst, allowing three runs while pitching effectively into the eighth inning.

It was the first time in six tries that the Rockies had beaten Nolasco. He was 5-0 in his five previous starts, including going 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA in his three prior starts at hitter friendly Coors Field.

"I was making pitches. I can't believe how many balls just somehow turned into hits, with the bloopers and groundballs," Nolasco said. "The homerun was coming when you have a day like that. I felt good, there's no excuses there. There's not much you can do when those days come like that. Obviously, nothing really worked."

Carlos Gonzalez and Chris Iannetta did most of the damage. Gonzalez singled and homered to drive in four runs and Iannetta also drove in four runs with a double and a single.

"It's just unfortunate that I wasn't able to get the outs that usually are outs," Nolasco said. "But they just weren't today. That's just the way the game goes. I'm not saying they didn't hit anything hard, they did. Wipe it out of your memory and go back to work in five days."

Nolasco (9-9) did have two strikeouts, giving him 757 with the Marlins to tie Dontrelle Willis for the team record.

Cook had gotten only four runs of support in his previous four outings, but there was no such problem on this night. He was staked to a 5-0 lead in the first and saw the Rockies add another six runs in the third inning.

Cook lost his bid for his third career shutout when Jose Lopez led off the eighth inning with a home run. Two outs later, Mike Stanton connected for his 29th homer and Cook was relieved by Matt Reynolds, who finished up. Cook allowed three runs on nine hits in 7 2-3 innings, his longest outing of the season.

For Nolasco, it quickly became apparent that he wasn't going to be able to repeat his past success against the Rockies.

Three batters into the game, Gonzalez hit an RBI single. Chris Nelson's bases-loaded infield hit pushed across a second run and Iannetta followed with a line drive that caught Mike Cameron flat-footed and sailed over the center fielder's head for a bases-clearing double.

"I hit it good, had a lot of backspin," Iannetta said. "It was a tough play, but I was happy he didn't catch it, for our sake and my own."

The Rockies took up the pounding again in the third, when they also sent nine batters to the plate. Iannetta and Cook hit successive RBI singles, and Mark Ellis added a run-scoring single before Gonzalez connected for his 20th home run. The six runs in the inning tied a season high by the Rockies.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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