PHOENIX – If Rockies manager Clint Hurdle had known it was so easy, maybe he could have provided the inspiring pep talk earlier, and avoided a lot of aggravation.

As it was, he waited until the end of the fifth inning on Tuesday night at Chase field.

He had watched the Rockies blow two leads. He had seen the offense strand eight runners, six in scoring position, including failing to score in the fifth when they had runners on second and third with no outs. And he had been forced to remove starting pitcher Franklin Morales during his warm up session for the third inning with what was described as a shoulder strain.

“I told the guys, I’m looking for the tent, and the clowns in the VW,’’ said Hurdle. “Enough of the circus. Let’s just go play a half game of solid baseball.’’

Okay, so it wasn’t Knute Rockne. There were no George Halas overtones.

But something certainly clicked because in the final four innings the Rockies played as solid a baseball as they have at any point this season, rallying to erase a three-run deficit and pull out a 9-6 victory against Arizona.

This wasn’t merely the Rockies third win in five games against Arizona this year – that equals the win total in 18 games last year. This was a night where all the things that the Rockies have been trying to force to happen seemingly fell into place.

From Matt Belisle, who hours earlier averted being dumped off the roster only because Ryan Speier had a hamstring strain, rebounding from retiring only one of nine batters he faced his two previous appearances to put down five Diamondbacks in a row to Todd Helton capping off his first three-hit game of the season by unloading his first home run of the season, a two-run shot off Jon Rauch in the eighth.

And don’t overlook:

–Reliever Huston Street, having moved from the first base side of the rubber to more toward the middle, responded with a 1-2-3 seventh. He faced the 3-4-5 hitters in the Arizona lineup and didn’t have a ball hit out of the infield.

–Manny Corpas, the sixth reliever to work, chalked up his first save in his first opportunity since replacing Street in the ninth-inning role without breaking a sweat.

–Lefty Alan Embree began his performance with a wild pitch that put runners on second and third with one out in the eighth, and then finished it with a strike out of Rockies killer Tony Clark and a ground out by Felipe Lopez.

–Garrett Atkins, who had only three hits all season in 34 at-bats against right-handed pitchers, went 3-for-5 with two line drive doubles.

–And Omar Quintanilla, limited to four pinch-hit appearances in the first 12 games, came off the bench to deliver a double that drove in the first run of the go-ahead four-run sixth.

“We needed everybody, but we knew that going in to this game, and this season,’’ said manager Clint Hurdle. “We got backed into a corner and we came out good. We showed grit.’’

And the emergence of Helton was no small thing.

After a quality spring in which he quieted concerns about how he would bounce back from last fall’s back surgery, Helton was so intent on getting off to a good start in the regular season that he got in his own way. Tuesday night he followed the Greg Maddux advice for dealing with a tough situation.

“You try easier,’’ Maddux explained time and again.

Helton followed up a two-hit effort on Monday with the three-hit performance on Tuesday, and punctuated the game with a the-back-is-no-problem exclamation in the bottom of the fourth when he charged Arizona pitcher Yusmeiro Petit’s sacrifice bunt attempt and twisted himself to get a force at second on Miguel Montero.

“Vintage Todd,’’ said Hurdle. “I had Keith Hernandez yell at me once, `How can you say he makes that play better than anyone you’ve ever seen?’ I said, `Because he does.’ Keith said, `but you played with me.’ I told him, `I know, and he still makes that play better than anyone I’ve ever seen.’’’

What he makes is a night miserable for an opposing pitcher. As well as a single to lead off the fifth, and then a single in the midst of the sixth-inning rally in which he scored the tying run on Brad Hawpe’s two-run, go-ahead single, Helton put on a vintage Helton at-bat in the eighth.

Helton went 1-1 in the count, fouled off four pitches, and then yanked a two-run shot into the right field seats. Rauch has been around but for some reason decided to pound Helton with the fastball in. He paid for it.

“He fouls those pitches off,’’ said Hurdle, “and then gets that pitch up and in. It’s not a strike, but sometimes Todd takes a swing that nobody else can take and makes it special.

“I always believe he is going to get a hit. Last year, when he was hurt, I always believed he was going to get a hit.’’

But having to wait until his 44th at-bat of the season for his first home run?

“It had to be a relief for him,’’ said Hurdle. “The game is on the line and he gives us a little breathing room. ’’

And by evening’s end, the Rockies could breath a sign of relief.