Rockies Snap Boston's Streak With 2-1 Win
Jhoulys Chacin pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning to beat Jon Lester and lead the Colorado Rockies to a 2-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night.
Chacin walked five and allowed four singles in 6 2-3 innings. Lester, in his first trip to Coors Field since winning Game 4 to clinch Boston's 2007 World Series title, lost for the first time since April 18 despite allowing just one earned run and six hits - all singles - in six spectacular innings.
Boston had won six straight and Lester (8-3) had won eight in a row. He was unbeaten in his previous 11 starts.
In ending a personal four-game losing streak, Chacin (4-6) got a big boost from reliever Joe Beimel, who retired pinch-hitter David Ortiz with the bases full in the seventh.
Rafael Betancourt worked the eighth and Matt Belisle pitched a rocky ninth for his first save since July 4, 2005, for Cincinnati at San Francisco. Belisle allowed Mike Cameron's one-out RBI single before retiring pinch-hitters Bill Hall and Mike Lowell to end the game.
Todd Helton hit an RBI single in the fifth and Ryan Spilborghs' bad-hop single off Hideki Okajima made it 2-0 in the eighth. It looked as if his routine grounder was going to be an inning-ending double play but the ball took a wicked hop over shortstop Marco Scutaro's head, allowing Helton to score from second.
The Red Sox twice loaded the bases against Chacin and came up empty.
In the third, Chacin threw three straight balls to Victor Martinez, who finally grounded out to second on a full-count fastball to strand three.
They loaded them again in the seventh, and Ortiz hit for Lester. The Rockies countered by bringing in Beimel, who got Ortiz to ground out to second base.
Lester only ran into trouble in the fifth, when the Rockies put runners at first and second with two outs. Helton, mired in a season-long funk, drove a breaking ball into right field to score Chris Nelson, who led off with a single for his first major league hit.
Huston Street (shoulder, groin) was activated before the game, but Rockies manager Jim Tracy is easing him back into the closer's role because he's missed the entire season.
The Rockies and Red Sox, who fell to 10-3 in interleague play, continue their three-game series with Ubaldo Jimenez (13-1) facing John Lackey (8-3) on Wednesday night.
NOTES: The Red Sox recalled OF Josh Reddick from Triple-A Pawtucket and returned RHP Robert Manuel to their top minor league club. Manager Terry Francona needed an extra outfielder with J.D. Drew still slowed by a strained right hamstring. ... Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa (finger tendon) left Denver to begin his minor league rehab assignment. ... Red Sox RHP Josh Beckett (lower back strain) threw 42 pitches during a bullpen session, all fastballs. He will throw 55 pitches on the side on Wednesday and a simulated game on Saturday.
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