DENVER – Troy Tulowitzki hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and the Colorado Rockies rallied to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 on Friday night.
With runners on second and third and no outs, Kameron Loe (2-3) relieved starter Yovani Gallardo and Tulowitzki hit an 0-1 pitch off the glove of a leaping Ryan Braun at the left-field wall. Tulowitzki stood near first base before resuming his home-run trot after it was clear Braun was unable to catch the ball.
Todd Helton drew a leadoff walk and Carlos Gonzalez doubled down the left-field line before Tulowitzki's 11th homer.
Taylor Buchholz (1-0) picked up his first win in nearly two years and Huston Street worked the ninth for his eighth save. Gonzalez, the National League's leading hitter, had two doubles and raised his average to .324.
Rickie Weeks had two doubles and Jonathan Lucroy had two hits for the Brewers.
The teams combined for 16 hits, including 12 doubles.
Trailing 1-0, the Brewers took the lead in the top of the sixth. Braun and Casey McGehee hit one-out doubles to tie the game. After Lorenzo Cain struck out, Alcides Escobar doubled to center to chase starter Jorge De La Rosa.
Lucroy greeted Matt Belisle with a single to right that made it 3-1.
De La Rosa allowed three runs and six hits, struck out five and walked three.
Milwaukee added another run in the seventh when Weeks led off with a double, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Corey Hart's sacrifice fly.
The Rockies got a run back in the bottom half. Ian Stewart reached on a leadoff double and scored on pinch-hitter Ryan Spilborghs' two-out double to left-center.
Gallardo gave up four runs and seven hits in his longest outing since shutting out Minnesota on June 24.
The Rockies took a 1-0 lead in the third on consecutive two-out doubles by Helton and Gonzalez. They had a chance for more but right fielder Hart tracked down Tulowitzki's drive into the right-center field gap for the last out.
NOTES: Buchholz's last win was Aug. 20, 2008, against the Dodgers. He missed all of 2009 after having right elbow surgery. ... McGehee grounded out in the first to end his streak of consecutive hits at nine, a club record. ... The Brewers released OF Jody Gerut.
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