Gonzalez, Rockies edge Yankees

Denver, CO – Carlos Gonzalez clubbed a two-run homer and Jorge De La Rosa spun six strong innings of three-hit ball as the Colorado Rockies blanked the New York Yankees, 2-0, on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game set at Coors Field.

De La Rosa (3-3) walked one and fanned a pair before Matt Belisle and Rex Brothers each tossed a hitless inning of relief. Rafael Betancourt worked around a leadoff single in the ninth to nail down his ninth save.

Josh Rutledge registered three hits and scored once for the Rockies, who dropped two of three to the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend.

"We just want to get wins, regardless of who it's against," Colorado manager Walt Weiss said. "We just want to click off as many wins as we can."

Hiroki Kuroda (4-2) was a hard-luck loser, scattering seven hits -- including Gonzalez's homer -- while striking out three over seven solid frames in the setback, New York's third in its last four games.

Kuroda held the Rockies down for much of the contest until Rutledge smacked a two-out single to center in the sixth.

Gonzalez then worked a full count before launching a fastball over the wall in right-center field to give Colorado a 2-0 lead.

"He just made a mistake," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Kuroda. "He made one mistake to (Gonzalez) and he made him pay for it. He made one mistake and it cost him the game."

Belisle and Brothers then blanked the visitors in the seventh and eighth, respectively, before Betancourt took the mound to start the ninth.

Jayson Nix opened the final frame with a single, but was quickly wiped away on Robinson Cano's fielder's choice to second.

Betancourt then fanned Vernon Wells and Brett Gardner to secure the victory.

Game Notes

Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was held out the Rockies' lineup with a sore left groin ... De La Rosa improved to 3-0 in four games (three starts) against the Yankees ... New York went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left five on base ... Nix had two of New York's four hits.