DENVER – Rookie Severino Gonzalez pitched five solid innings, Ryan Howard homered, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Colorado Rockies 4-2 on Wednesday night for their seventh win in eight games.
Gonzalez (2-1), recalled prior to the game from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, allowed one run on five hits in his third big league start. Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth for his 11th save in 11 chances.
The Phillies took a 2-0 lead at the outset against Eddie Butler (2-5), who labored to get through a 43-pitch first inning. He had a chance to escape unscathed, but, with two on and two outs, he short-hopped a throw to first on Maikel Franco’s comebacker for an error, allowing Howard to score from third. Jeff Francouer followed with an RBI-single.
Butler, coming off the shortest outing of his career in which he went 2 2/3 innings in a 6-4 loss to the Dodgers last week, did little better against the Phillies in losing his fourth in a row. He went three innings and gave up six hits and four runs, including Howard’s leadoff shot in the third for his eighth home run of the season.
Howard also doubled in the seventh to finish a triple shy of the cycle.
Gonzalez retired the first nine Rockies he faced before Charlie Blackmon singed to start the fourth. After Blackmon stole second, he scored on Carlos Gonzalez’s single.
A couple of base-running mistakes also figured in the Rockies’ loss. Wilin Rosario was thrown out to end the third trying to stretch a single to a double, and in the fifth, Ben Paulsen was doubled off first after Odubel Herrera made a running catch of Nick Hundley’s drive to center.
CHANGING PLACES
Rockies: Struggling outfielder Drew Stubbs has been optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque by Colorado, which recalled outfielder Brandon Barnes from the Isotopes. Stubbs was hitting .118 and had struck out 31 times in 51 at-bats. Barnes spent most of last season with the Rockies and was hitting .205 in 33 games for Albuquerque since being optioned April 1. He flied out as a pinch hitter in the seventh.
Phillies: RHP Hector Neris was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to clear a roster spot for Gonzalez.
SPECIAL OCCASION
Phillies first base coach Juan Samuel will not be with the team Thursday and Friday while he attends the graduation of his daughter Noemi Samuel Del Rosario from law school at Barry University in Orlando, Florida.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Jerome Williams (3-3) will look to win consecutive starts for the second time this season in the finale of the four-game series Thursday.
Rockies: LHP Jorge De La Rosa (1-2) will aim to improve on his strong record at Coors Field, where he is 45-15 with a 4.16 ERA in 84 games, including 79 starts.
