Cook Blanks Dodgers Through 7 In Rockies' 3-1 Win
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Cook outpitched Hiroki Kuroda with seven scoreless innings, Troy Tulowitzki had a pair of RBI singles among his three hits, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 on Wednesday night to avoid a three-game sweep.
Cook (2-5) scattered six hits, struck out two and walked two in his longest outing of an injury-delayed season. The 32-year-old right-hander, who missed the first three months with a broken finger on his pitching hand, has won consecutive starts after going 0-5 with a 5.82 ERA in his first seven outings.
Rex Brothers pitched the eighth, giving up a two-out double to Matt Kemp, and Huston Street earned his 27th save in 29 attempts. He threw 31 pitches, giving up Rod Barajas' ninth homer with one out in the ninth.
Kuroda (6-13) allowed one run and six hits over six innings with six strikeouts, and is 1-10 over his last 12 starts despite a more-than-adequate 3.38 ERA during that stretch. The 36-year-old righty managed to maintain his concentration as long as he could despite weeks of constant speculation that he might be dealt before Sunday's non-waiver trade deadline.
Colorado broke through in the fifth when Tulowitzki drove in Eric Young Jr. from second with the Rockies' third straight two-out single. But Kuroda minimized the damage by striking out Ty Wigginton after loading the bases with an intentional walk to Seth Smith.
Wigginton, who had only four RBIs in his previous 20 games, came to the plate in the seventh batting just .154 this season with runners in scoring position. But he found a pitch to his liking from Blake Hawksworth and lined a double to left field that scored Tulowitzki, who doubled with two outs. Tulowitzki drove in the final run with a ninth-inning single against Hawksworth.
The frustrated Dodgers stranded a runner at second in three of the first four innings.
Andre Ethier led off the sixth with a routine grounder to shortstop that Tulowitzki bobbled, but he had plenty of time to recover and make the throw because Ethier didn't bother to run it out at full speed. As a result, he heard it from the crowd of 29,976 during his long walk back to third base dugout.
Notes: The Rockies recalled INF Chris Nelson from Triple-A Colorado Springs to fill the roster spot vacated when Jason Giambi went on the disabled list Tuesday with a strained left quad. ... The Dodgers' bullpen was a man short after RHP Kenley Jansen was hospitalized Tuesday night and all day Wednesday with an irregular heartbeat following his seven-pitch save in Clayton Kershaw's 3-2 victory. Jansen was expected to be released from White Memorial Medical Center on Thursday after undergoing more tests. ... Wigginton, who dropped a simple fly in left field by Rafael Furcal in Tuesday's game, started at 1B for the seventh time this season and was handcuffed by a pickoff throw from Cook that allowed Furcal to get to second. Cook was charged with the error, his second in 32 starts since the beginning of last season. ... Rockies 1B Todd Helton, 4 for 16 lifetime against Kuroda, wasn't in the starting lineup because manager Jim Tracy wanted to rest him. Helton entered the game in the ninth for defense. Tulowitzki moved up to Helton's No. 3 spot in the lineup and Smith batted cleanup for the second time this season, going 2 for 3 with a pair of intentional walks.
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