Rockies 7, Brewers 3
MILWAUKEE -- Juan Nicasio allowed just two runs on seven hits in six innings of work and Wilin Rosario hit his first home run of the season as the Rockies beat the Brewers, 7-3, Wednesday night at Miller Park.
Troy Tulowitzki continued his success against Milwaukee, going 1-for-3 with two walks and a run scored and Carlos Gonzalez recorded two hits for the third consecutive game, finishing 2-for-5.
Rickie Weeks finished a triple shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a double, home run and two runs scored while Ryan Braun went 2-for-2 with two walks, a double and three RBI for Milwaukee, which dropped its second straight.
Starting pitchers Wily Peralta and Juan Nicasio combined to throw 50 first-inning pitchers in their first starts of the season, but were able to settle into a rhythm.
Rosario gave the Rockies a 2-0 lead, but Peralta retired seven of his next nine batters before allowing a leadoff double to Jordan Pacheco in the fifth.
He followed by getting Josh Rutlege to ground out to short but Reid Brignac followed with a single, putting the Rockies up, 3-2. After Nicasio's sacrifice moved Brignac to third, he scored on Eric Young's single to left.
With two outs in the third, the Brewers got to Nicasio when Rickie Weeks hit his first home run of the season. Ryan Braun then walked, moved to third on Aramis Ramirez's third double in as many games and scored on Alex Gonzalez's single to left, tying the game at 2-2.
Milwaukee could have taken the lead on the play, but Carlos Gonzalez's throw home gave Rosario, the Rockies' catcher, just enough time to leap and tag a sliding Ramirez, ending the inning.
The Brewers added a run in the seventh, cutting the Rockies' lead to 4-3 on back-to-back two-out doubles by Weeks and Braun before Chris Volstad ended the inning striking out Ramirez.
Colorado looked to add to its lead in the eighth but Braun made a perfect throw to Martin Maldanado to catch Carlos Gonzalez trying to score on Josh Rutledge's two-out single.
With the score still 4-3 Colorado, John Axford came on to work the ninth and allowed a two-run home run to Michael Cuddyer and a solo shot to Dexter Fowler -- his second of the season off Axford -- for the final margin.
NOTES: Brewers pitchers have recorded 22 strikeouts while walking just three in their first two games. ... Carlos Gonzalez is the third player in Rockies history to start a season with two hits and two runs in each of their first two games. ... Milwaukee shortstop Jean Segura has four hits in the Brewers' first two games after batting .367 (22-for-60) during spring training. ... Entering play Wednesday, Tulowitzki had homered in six of his previous 11 games.