Rockies 9, Cubs 3
DENVER -- The Colorado Rockies' offensive drought had dragged on for 11 games, a barren stretch that emphatically ended Saturday night with a 9-3 win over the Chicago Cubs.
Two mid-game rallies fueled the Rockies. They scored three runs in the fourth and four in the fifth when they batted around before tacking on two more in the eighth.
Dexter Fowler drove in three runs, two with a triple in the fourth. Carlos Gonzalez hit his 26th home run in the fifth when Todd Helton singled home a run. Helton went 3-for-4 with a double and a walk for his first three-hit game of the season and scored twice.
With 10 hits in his past 20 at-bats, Helton, who turns 40 on Aug. 20, has raised his average to .265, the highest it has been since May 9 when he was hitting .269.
Troy Tulowitkzi, who broke an 0-for-10 slide on Friday, doubled home two runs in the eighth.
The Rockies had lost seven of their previous 11 games, scoring 21 runs in that span while hitting .203 (70-for-345) and .127 (8-for-63) with runners in scoring position. The Rockies went 5-for-15 with runners in scoring position Saturday.
The beneficiary of the offense was Juan Nicasio, who allowed one run on Luis Valbuena's homer in the third but lasted just five innings because he piled up 93 pitches and only 52 were strikes.
The loss was just the fourth for the Cubs in their past 11 games. Carlos Villaneuva left after facing four batters in the fifth. He allowed nine of the Rockies' 13 hits and seven runs.
Mitchell Boggs made his Rockies debut in the ninth and loaded the bases with two out on a double, a hit batter and a walk, but he got Starlin Castro to ground into a fielder's choice to end the game.
Nicasio was coming off his best outing of the year -- seven scoreless innings at Los Angeles on July 12 after making two starts at Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Rockies manager Walt Weiss said before the game that keeping things simple and staying aggressive, as he did in Los Angeles, were keys for Nicasio. But early on he fell into his old inefficient ways, throwing 27 pitches in the first, 24 in the third and finishing the fourth with 79 pitches.
But Nicasio got through that stretch almost unscathed, allowing only Valbuena's home run in the third that put the Cubs ahead 1-0. Valbuena walloped a 3-2 fastball that was belt-high over the center of the plate. But Nicasio retired eight of the next nine batters and left after throwing 93 pitches, just 52 strikes, in five innings.
Wilin Rosario powered a drive over the outstretched glove of right fielder Nate Schierholtz with one out in the fourth. Helton, who had singled, went to third and scored on Nolan Arenado's slow grounder to first. Villaneuva then walked Nicasio and paid for it when Fowler tripled into the right-field corner.
The Rockies jumped on Villaneuva for four straight hits to start a four-run fifth and knock him out. Gonzalez led off with his 26th home run. Tulowitzki and Michael Cuddyer singled, and Cuddyer took second when center fielder Junior Lake bobbled the ball.
Helton's soft single to center made it 5-1 and finished Villaneuva. Rosario greeted Michael Bowden with a run-scoring single, and Fowler completed the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly.
NOTES: Rockies RHP Rafael Betancourt was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to July 15 with appendicitis, and RHP Mitchell Boggs was recalled from Double-A Tulsa, where he had one save and a 1.50 ERA in four games after being acquired from St. Louis for an international signing bonus slot on July 9. This is the second stint on the disabled list this season for Betancourt, who missed most of June with a right groin strain. He has converted 15 of 16 save opportunities. ... Helton's double in the second was the 578th of his career, tying him with Hall of Famer Wade Boggs for 18th all-time. ... LHP Chris Rusin would be a likely Cubs option to start Monday at Arizona if Matt Garza is traded before that scheduled start. Rusin is 8-7 with a 3.35 ERA at Triple-A Iowa and last pitched July 13. He's 0-0 with an 8.10 ERA in one start for the Cubs this season, July 2 at Oakland. ... On Friday, Lake became the 44th player to appear for the Cubs this season. A franchise-record 53 players appeared last season.
