Rockies again make noise in ninth but lose to Marlins

The Colorado Rockies and, again, Jason Giambi in particular made a ninth-inning charge, but this time it wasn’t quite enough. Jhoulys Chacin lasted a season-low four innings, and the Rockies fell 6-5 to the Florida Marlins.

After Anibal Sanchez held the Rockies to three runs in eight innings and threw 105 pitches, Marlins manager Jack McKeon brought in closer Leo Nunez. He gave up a leadoff single to Todd Helton. Seth Smith hit the ball well but lined out to center fielder Mike Cameron, who caught the ball near the warning track. Pinch hitter Eliezer Alfonzo flied out. And Giambi, pinch hitting for Chris Iannetta, hit a two-run homer.

Ty Wigginton followed with a single, but Nunez got Dexter Fowler to pop out and end the game and earn his 33rd save.

Giambi’s homer was the fourth of the game for the Rockies. They got solo homers from Troy Tulowitzki and Smith in the second and Carlos Gonzalez leading off the fourth. Tulowitzi followed Gonzalez’s homer with a double, which was the Rockies last hit off Sanchez until Gonzalez singled with two out in the eighth.

Chacin gave up three hits, three walks and three runs in the first inning and left the bases loaded. After Bryan Petersen’s one-out triple, Mike Stanton walked and Glenn Dobbs singled home a run. Chacin struck out Gaby Sanchez but Cameron singled home two runs. Chacin then issued consecutive walks to load the bases before he got Anibal Sanchez to ground out.

Chacin gave up two runs in the fourth, which began when former Rockie Jose Lopez led off with a double. He scored on Emilio Bonifacio’s one-out single, and Petersen followed with a triple, his third in two games.

Edgmer Escalona relieved Chacin and allowed one hit in three innings. It was a leadoff homer in the seventh to Stanton, his 28th of the season and ultimately the telling blow in the Rockies one-run loss.

Other highlights:
_ Giambi’s homer was his 12th of the season and first as a pinch hitter. He hit a walk-off three-run homer off left-hander Randy Choate to give the Rockies a 7-4 win Monday. Giambi is averaging one homer every 8.5 at-bats (102 ABs, 12 HRs).

_ The Rockies have homered in nine consecutive games, one shy of their season-high. They have hit 16 homers during their current streak. The Rockies homered in 10 straight games April 5-14 (including both ends of an April 14 doubleheader) and June 17-27 and hit 15 homers in the first of those 10-game streaks and 17 in the second.

_ Chacin’s previous shortest outing this season was 4 2/3 innings on July 21 against the Braves. He threw 88 pitches in four innings and just 48 strikes and fell below .500 (9-10) for the first time this season. Chacin lost his second straight start, but on Thursday at Cincinnati, he threw a complete game and lost 2-1.

_ The four innings Chacin worked are his fewest in a start since he went four innings against the Diamondbacks on Sept. 12, 2010. The eight hits he yielded were one shy of the nine he gave up on June 27 in five innings at Wrigley Field. Nine hits are the most Chacin has allowed in a game.

_ Fowler went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, giving him 103 strikeouts in 332 at-bats. Fowler has struck out at least once in nine straight games with a total of 13 strikeouts in that span. He is one shy of his 2010 total of 104 strikeouts in 439 at-bats and not far from his career-high 116 strikeouts in 433 at-bats in 2009, his rookie season.

_ Tulowitzki went 2-for-4 with his 25th homer and a double. Since the All-Star break, Tulowitzki is hitting .403 (50-for-124) with 14 doubles, eight homers and 28 RBI and has raised his average from .268 at the break to .305.

_ J.C. Romero made his Rockies debut and gave up two singles in 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He got Lopez to ground into a double play after John Buck opened the eighth with a single. Romero gave up a one-out single to Petersen in the ninth, and Josh Roenicke came on and retired Stanton and Dobbs on fly outs. Roenicke has stranded three inherited runners while pitching four scoreless innings in five appearances.

_ The Rockies are 17-23 in one-run games.