PHILADELPHIA – Chad Bettis will have to wait a little longer for his first major league victory.
Domonic Brown hit a game-ending RBI single to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 5-4 comeback victory over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night, spoiling the rookie’s bid for his first win.
The Phillies scored two runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth for their second come-from-behind win in as many days.
“Bettis pitched well. I thought it might be his first big league win,” Rockies’ manager Walt Weiss said.
The rookie allowed one run and six hits over 5 1/3 innings in his fifth career start. He was in line for the win before Philadelphia’s late rally.
“The first one is never easy, and you can never count the other team out,” Bettis said. “I felt real good (Thursday night). Everything was working pretty well. I had better location than my last start. I had the same stuff, but my command and location were better.”
Colorado carried a 4-3 lead into the ninth, but Rafael Betancourt (2-5) blew a save opportunity for the second consecutive game and the third time in 19 chances. He left with a right elbow sprain after surrendering the tying run.
Betancourt departed after Young’s at-bat, heading to the dugout after a visit by Weiss and a trainer. The right-hander had lunged for Young’s grounder that went just out of his reach.
Jeff Francis came in and walked Chase Utley before Brown’s grounder to right scored Young. Brown was mobbed by the Phillies, who took three of four games from the Rockies for just their second series win since the All-Star break.
“That was a tough loss,” Weiss said. “The Phillies kept fighting.”
The Phillies have won four of five to improve to 4-3 under Ryne Sandberg, who became the interim manager when Charlie Manuel was fired last Friday.
“We’re just out there having lots of fun, feeding off the energy we have in the clubhouse,” Brown said. “We’re trying to make a statement going into next year.”
Jimmy Rollins started the winning rally with a two-out double. He then stole third and scored on Michael Young’s slow roller to third that went for a hit. Young had the game-winning hit off Betancourt in Philadelphia’s 4-3 win Wednesday night.
“We’re deep back in the standings, but five weeks is a ton of time to play good baseball,” Young said. “Everybody looks forward to the opportunity to show what they are made of.”
Wilin Rosario homered for Colorado, which has dropped five of six. The Rockies have won nine of 39 games against Philadelphia since the start of the 2008 season.
“He’s been swinging the bat well for a few weeks,” Weiss said. “He’s an impact offensive player.”
Cesar Jimenez (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for the victory.
Darin Ruf homered, and Carlos Ruiz had three hits for the Phillies.
Cody Asche doubled home a run in the second for Philadelphia, but Dexter Fowler had a tying sacrifice fly in the fifth. The Rockies then scored three runs in the sixth on four consecutive hits, chasing right-hander Kyle Kendrick.
Rosario had the big blow, a line drive to left for a three-run shot. It was the third homer in the last four games for Rosario, who extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
The Phillies pulled within one on Ruf’s two-out, two-run homer off Matt Belisle in the eighth.
Kendrick continued his recent struggles. The right-hander avoided his third consecutive loss, but he gave up four runs and eight hits in five-plus innings, raising his earned-run average to 8.14 in his last six starts.
But the Phillies pulled it out.
“There’s a sense in the games that good things can happen with the positive energy and the guys pulling for each other,” Sandberg said.
Before its recent winning stretch that began with Sunday’s victory over the Dodgers, Philadelphia had lost 21 of 25 games.
“It was a very difficult stretch, but we flat-out knew we were better than that, and we look forward to showing that,” Young said.
Rockies rumpus
Michael Cuddyer and Troy Tulowitzki each had a pair of hits for the Rockies. ... Colorado will open a three-game series at Miami on Friday night, with Rockies RHP Jhoulys Chacin (11-7, 3.24 ERA) opposing RHP Tom Koehler (3-8, 4.66 ERA).
