Cards blow six-run lead in ninth

DENVER -- Seth Smith's three-run homer off Ryan Franklin with two outs in the ninth capped a nine-run rally as the Colorado Rockies stunned the St. Louis Cardinals 12-9 on Tuesday night.

It was the largest ninth-inning comeback in Rockies history. The previous best was four runs.

The Rockies trailed 9-2 after Matt Holliday's three-run shot in the sixth and got one run in the seventh on Chris Iannetta's fielder's choice groundball.

Iannetta hit a three-run homer off Franklin (3-1), who allowed six runs and six hits while retiring just one batter.

Franklin Morales (3-5) got the win with two perfect innings of relief.

St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Ryan Franklin, front, reacts after giving up a three-run, walkoff home run to Colorado Rockies' Seth Smith in the ninth inning of the Rockies' 12-9 victory in a baseball game in Denver on Tuesday, July 6, 2010. Rockies base runner Miguel Olivo, back, heads to home plate. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

After Iannetta's fifth homer, Dexter Fowler doubled off the right-field wall and scored on Carlos Gonzalez's two-out single, making it 9-8. Gonzalez scored all the way from first when Jason Giambi's single was mishandled by right fielder Randy Winn for an error.

Aaron Cook pinch-ran for Giambi and reached third on Miguel Olivo's single before Smith connected for his 12th homer on a 2-2 offering from Franklin.

In all, the Rockies reached base 27 times, although until the ninth they were lamenting their wasted opportunities as they stranded 13 runners.

Holliday, who hit 128 home runs in a Rockies uniform from 2004-08, made the most of his second trip to Coors Field as a visitor when he sent a 1-1 pitch from Jhoulys Chacin into the left field seats in the sixth for his 12th homer.

Hours earlier, Holliday was selected along with Milwaukee's Corey Hart as the first two participants for the NL in the home run derby at the All-Star game in Anaheim, Calif., next week.

Felipe Lopez also homered and drove in three runs to back right-hander Blake Hawksworth, who allowed two earned runs on eight hits over five innings and stood to get the win until the wild ninth.

The Cardinals scored five earned runs on six hits during the four innings Jeff Francis was on the mound for Colorado. He gave way to Chacin, who was moved to the bullpen Tuesday to make room in the rotation for the pending return of lefty Jorge De La Rosa (finger tendon), to start the fifth.

Colorado stranded the bases loaded in the second and third innings, then left two men on base in each of the next three innings and another in the seventh.

St. Louis went ahead 3-0 in the third when Francis, who had retired the first eight hitters he faced, allowed Aaron Miles' bloop single followed by Lopez's fifth homer, Colby Rasmus's single and Albert Pujols' RBI double. The Rockies got two of the runs back in the bottom half on Gonzalez's 15th homer, a two-run shot.

Miles had a sacrifice fly to right and Lopes added a run-scoring single up to make it 5-2 in the fourth. Yadier Molina had a run-scoring single in the fifth and Holliday's three-run shot an inning later made it 9-2, seemingly safe.

The start of the game was delayed half an hour, apparently as a precaution because of lightning in the area. Within an hour of the first pitch, the temperature dropped from 81 degrees to 67 and the sustained winds increased from 4 mph to 27 mph.

Notes: Iannetta's homer was his fifth. ... The Rockies were without regular starters 1B Todd Helton (stiff back) and RF Brad Hawpe (sore side). ... Cardinals RHP Brad Penny was sent back to St. Louis after experiencing tightness in his injured right arm during a bullpen session at Coors Field on Tuesday. He's been on the DL since May 22. ... Barmes extended his hitting streak to 13 games, tying a career high, with a single his first time up.