Rockies send Brewers to third straight defeat

Rockies 11, Brewers 4

DENVER (AP) -- Todd Helton wasn't happy with his first two at-bats Tuesday night.

He was a lot happier with his last two.

Helton started the night with two strikeouts but ended it with two home runs -- the second one a three-run shot in the eighth inning -- to lift the Colorado Rockies to an 11-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. It was the Brewers' third straight loss.

"It was good to feel good at the plate," said Helton, who now has 11 home runs this season. "The thing I was most proud of wasn't the two home runs, but coming back after the terrible first two at-bats. I didn't hang my head and I battled."

Milwaukee starter Chris Capuano (5-9) took the loss, his ninth straight. The Brewers have lost all 14 of his starts since he beat the Washington Nationals on May 7.

"I'm tired of the streak," Capuano said. "It's not like I go out and try not to win over 14 starts. It was the same old story. I had five good innings and let them back into it."

The Rockies won for the 18th time in their last 22 home games. With the win, they moved into a tie for third place in the NL West with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was the first time the team has been in third place since July 20th.

The Brewers remained a game ahead of the Cubs in the NL Central.

Helton went 3-for-5 with four RBIs. It was his 26th multihomer game and first since Sept. 2, 2005, at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It was his first home run since July 18 at Pittsburgh. Helton had not had a game with more than one extra-base hit since June 5th, at home against Houston.

"It's good for him, it's good for us," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "I know he feels good about being able to get in the middle of things and mix it up."

Helton hit a one-out homer in the bottom of the seventh, and added a three-run shot in the eighth.

Jason Hirsh (5-7), went six innings, giving up three runs -- two earned -- and three hits in six innings to win for the first time since July 2. It was Hirsh's second start since coming off the disabled list on Aug. 2. He stayed in the game after he was hit in the right leg on a line drive by J.J. Hardy in the first inning.

"I didn't want to come out of the game regardless of how I felt," Hirsh said. "I've worked way too hard to get back to that point and I wasn't going to let something that I don't think affected me all that much take me out of the game."

Garrett Atkins and Ryan Spilborghs had three hits each, and Troy Tulowitzki hit his 13th home run of the season.

Capuano took a 3-0 lead through five innings but left after the first four batters reached in the bottom of the sixth. Tulowitzki homered to left-center to start the rally. Matt Holliday reached on an infield single, Helton singled to right and Atkins singled to drive in Holliday.

Carlos Villanueva relieved Capuano and gave up a two-run double to Spilborghs, and Corey Sullivan capped the rally with an infield single to score Spilborghs.

The Brewers built a 3-0 lead on sacrifice flies by Johnny Estrada in the second inning, Craig Counsell in the fifth and Bill Hall in the sixth.

"We didn't get it done," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "We had four hits and got four runs. That's not very good."

Capuano allowed seven hits and struck out three.

Game notes
C Edwin Bellorin, who made his first major league appearance, left the game in the fifth inning because of a strained left hamstring. Bellorin injured the hamstring grounding into a double play in his first major league at-bat. Yorvit Torrealba, who was given the night off in favor of Bellorin, took his place. ... The Brewers are 3-13 in their last 16 road games.