Holliday has 4 RBIs to lead Cardinals past Rockies

DENVER -- Matt Holliday homered, doubled and drove in four runs, and Kyle Lohse worked through an erratic outing to win his fifth consecutive decision and lift the St. Louis Cardinals over the Colorado Rockies 11-6 on Tuesday night.

Carlos Beltran and David Freese also homered and Allen Craig went 3-for-3 with two walks and three RBIs to help the Cardinals rebound from successive losses. The Rockies dropped to 0-4 on their homestand and have lost seven of eight overall.

Lohse (11-2), who also beat the Rockies three weeks ago in St. Louis, gave up nine hits and five runs in six innings, breaking a string of 10 consecutive quality starts. He struck out five and walked two.

He got more than enough offensive support, though, and the newly reinforced Cardinals bullpen pitched in with three innings of one-run ball. In a trade completed earlier Tuesday, St. Louis acquired right-handed reliever Edward Mujica from the Miami Marlins for minor league infielder Zack Cox.

Rockies starter Jeff Francis (3-3) went four innings, his second shortest outing since he lasted only 3 1-3 innings in his initial start on June 9 for the Rockies. He allowed six hits and five runs, struck out two and walked none.

Trailing 6-2 in the sixth, the Rockies pulled to within one on Josh Rutledge's three-run homer off Lohse.

Reliever Adam Ottovino got his first major league hit, a single, with two outs. Eric Young Jr. followed with a single to right, and Rutledge followed with a drive over the left field wall for his third homer of the season.

But the Cardinals came right back in the seventh to rebuild a four-run cushion. Craig drew a one-out walk, and Holliday, formerly of the Rockies, followed with a homer over the center field wall, his 19th shot of the year. One out later, Freese extended his hitting streak to 11 games by connecting for his 15th homer.

Craig singled for a third time in the eighth, scoring Skip Schumacher and pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter after they each singled and advanced on a sacrifice.

St. Louis jumped to a 4-0 lead before Francis, who had been 6-1 in 11 previous outings against the Cardinals, recorded an out.

Francis hit Daniel Descalso, the first batter he faced, with a pitch, and Craig followed with a single. Holliday scored them both with a double to the center field fence, and Beltran drove Francis' first offering deep into the left field bleachers for his 24th home run.

The Rockies answered in their half of the first. Young led off with a double that went over the head of Holliday in left field.

One out later, Carlos Gonzalez brought him home with a single to left that extended his hitting streak at Coors Field to 29 games, one shy of Larry Walker's team record, set during the 2002 season.

Michael Cuddyer followed with a run-scoring double to center.

St. Louis added single runs in the second and sixth innings. Schumacher tripled and scored on Craig's single to right to put the Cardinals up 5-2, and St. Louis went up by four when Beltran doubled and scored on a single by Jon Jay.

Todd Helton had an RBI double for the Rockies in the ninth.

Noteworthy

* Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler was a late scratch from the lineup after coming down with flulike symptoms. Young replaced him in the lineup.

* Holliday is 10-for-19 with three home runs and 11 RBIs against Colorado this season. ... Rutledge and Jordan Pacheco each had three hits for the Rockies.

* The Rockies' Drew Pomeranz (1-6) faces the Cardinals' Jake Westbrook (9-8) today.