Cardinals bullpen falters in eighth

DENVER -- Tyler Colvin hit a tiebreaking double and rookie Josh Rutledge homered in his fourth straight game to lift the Colorado Rockies over the St. Louis Cardinals 8-2 on Thursday night to avert a three-game sweep.

Wilin Rosario hit his first career pinch-hit homer, a two-run shot off reliever Brian Fuentes in the eighth inning, and Jordan Pacheco went 3 for 3 with two doubles and two RBIs to help the Rockies snap a five-game losing streak. It was their first win in their last eight games at Coors Field.

D.J. LeMahieu singled off reliever Fernando Salas (1-4) to start the seventh inning and was sacrificed to second with the score deadlocked at 2-2. Colvin then doubled to left to put the Rockies back on top.

Rutledge followed with his fifth home run since his July 13 call-up when he drove a 2-2 pitch into the left-field bleachers. He's the first rookie in Rockies history to homer in four consecutive games.

Ramon Hernandez added a run-scoring double in the eighth, and Rosario connected on an 0-2 pitch from Fuentes for his 17th home run one out later.

Rockies starter Alex White started the sixth by striking out his counterpart, Lance Lynn, to retire his 10th consecutive Cardinals batter. Skip Schumaker then singled and scored when Jon Jay followed with a double to the left-center gap.

Matt Holliday was walked intentionally, and Carlos Beltran hit a run-scoring double to put the Cardinals in front. David Freese was hit by a pitch to load the bases and finish White's night. Rex Brothers (6-2) relieved and got Lance Berkman to ground into an inning-ending double play.

The Rockies tied it at 2-2 in the bottom half on a sacrifice fly by Pacheco, his second RBI of the night. He singled in the fourth to drive in Carlos Gonzalez, who was aboard with a double.

White, who was recalled from Class AAA Colorado Springs before the game, allowed two runs and five hits. He struck out three and walked one.

Lynn went six innings and gave up two runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked four.

Noteworthy

* The Cardinals were foiled in their bid for their first series sweep at Colorado since 2004.

* Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina sat out with a sprained right thumb sustained on a slide at first base the night before. He'll have X-rays when the team returns to St. Louis to begin a seven-game homestand against Milwaukee (three games) and San Francisco (four).

* Cardinals INF Rafael Furcal missed his fifth straight game with back stiffness, but manager Mike Matheny said Furcal was improving and could be back in the lineup soon.