Phillies fall 6-2 to Rockies

DENVER – Cliff Lee's hard-luck season just got a little tougher.

Lee pitched six solid innings only to lose again as the Philadelphia Phillies fell 6-2 to the Colorado Rockies on Friday night to drop their fifth straight and 11th in the past 12 games.

"I shake my head because I look out there and see Lee pitching. I can't believe we can't win some games with him pitching. We got outplayed," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

Rockies starter Christian Friedrich (5-6) got the best of Lee (1-6) in his first career appearance against the Phillies. Friedrich allowed one run and five hits, struck out seven and walked one in snapping a five-game losing streak.

Lee, who got his only win of the season in his previous start, July 4 against the New York Mets, allowed three runs — two earned — and nine hits.

"Cliff threw a good game," the Phillies' Ryan Howard said. "It's kind of been how the year is going."

Philadelphia fell to 4-11 in Lee's starts this season after going 22-10 in his 32 starts a year ago.

"Obviously, we want to win every game," Lee said. "It didn't happen tonight, they flat-out beat us. I felt like they hit some good pitches."

Much of the damage was done by Josh Rutledge, who was making his major league debut after being recalled by the Rockies earlier in the day from Double-A Tulsa.

Rutledge had two hits and two RBIs, doubling off Lee for his first big league hit in the second to drive in the Rockies' first run of the game. He had a tie-breaking sacrifice fly in the sixth, set up by Tyler Colvin's double and a single by Jordan Pacheco that sent Colvin to third.

"He had a great day," Lee said of Rutledge, "him and Pacheco. They had some good at-bats. They swung the bat well, both of those guys. You normally don't expect that out of the bottom of the lineup but they were a big part of them winning tonight."

Pinch-hitter Eric Young Jr., batting for Friedrich, had a run-scoring single in the sixth to give the Rockies a 3-1 lead.

Colorado broke the game open in the seventh, when it added three runs off reliever Michael Schwimer.

Ramon Hernandez, activated from the disabled list earlier Friday, singled to score Carlos Gonzalez, who had three hits.

Michael Cuddyer, an outfielder who made a rare start at first base in place of the injured Todd Helton, followed with a run-scoring triple. Cuddyer scored when catcher Carlos Ruiz threw wildly on an attempted pickoff for an error.

The Phillies evened the score at 1-1 in the third on Jimmy Rollins' run-scoring double. Rollins tripled and scored in the eighth on Chase Utley's sacrifice fly.

NOTES: Phillies RHP Roy Halladay, on the DL since late May because of a muscle strain on his right side, was scheduled to throw a bullpen session Saturday after making a successful rehab start Thursday for Single A Clearwater. ... LHP Raul Valdes went on the 15-day DL with a right hip strain, and the Phillies recalled LHP Joe Savery from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill his roster spot. ... The Rockies placed C Wil Nieves on the DL with turf toe in his right foot and optioned reliever Tyler Chatwood to Double-A Tulsa in addition to recalling RHP Mike Ekstrom from Triple-A Colorado Springs. ... Hernandez missed 42 games while on the DL recovering from a left hand injury. ... The Phillies are one loss away from matching a season-high six-game losing streak. ... Friedrich's last win was on June 4 at Arizona. ... Philadelphia lost for just the third time in its past 13 games at Coors Field.