CarGo, Paulsen key Rockies' rout of Reds

DENVER -- Behind an emphatic 10-run third inning, the Rockies cruised to a 17-7 win and a series victory over the Reds on Sunday afternoon at Coors Field.

The Reds, who traded ace Johnny Cueto before the game, had a 4-2 lead in the third, but the Rockies sent 13 men to the plate, launched three homers and banged out eight hits in the bottom half to grab a 12-4 lead. Every man in the lineup reached base, and seven of the eight position players had hits in the third, which was Colorado's highest-scoring inning since putting up 11 runs in the fifth on April 27, 2012 against the Mets. The Rockies tacked on five more runs over the next three innings and finished the day with five homers, which was the most Cincinnati has given up in a game this season.

Video: CIN@COL: Rockies go off for 10 runs in the 3rd inning

"You don't have a lot of those days where you get to coast to the finish line," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "It was a good day all around."

Most of that damage came off Reds starter Michael Lorenzen (3-5) and reliever Dylan Axelrod, both of whom gave up eight earned runs. Rockies right-hander Kyle Kendrick (4-11), meanwhile, picked up his second win at Coors Field this season.

Video: CIN@COL: Weiss on big win in Series finale

"With that offense today, I just tried to keep us in the game," said Kendrick, who gave up six runs over five innings on 102 pitches. "Guys scored plenty of runs. I threw a lot of pitches for five innings. Obviously, I'd like to go deeper. It wasn't great, but it was a W."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Bruce puts Reds ahead: The game looked more promising for the Reds in the top of the third inning. Following back-to-back one-out walks, Jay Bruce hit a 3-1 pitch from Kendrick for a three-run homer to right field that gave Cincinnati a 4-2 lead. It was Bruce's 16th homer of the season and it came as scouts have been at Coors Field to take a look all weekend. The Mets were one of the clubs in town to scout Bruce. More >

"Any time you have a lead, you feel like you have a pretty good chance," Bruce said. "But everyone knows that this park is an interesting place to play. No lead is safe."

Video: CIN@COL: Bruce drives in Votto with a double in 5th

Paulsen power: Ben Paulsen had never had a four-hit game in the Major Leagues, but he achieved that feat in his first four at-bats on Sunday. Paulsen started with a two-run triple in the first, crushed a solo homer in the third, went deep again in the fourth and lined a single the other way in the fifth. Sunday marked the first multi-homer game of Paulsen's MLB career, as well as the first time a Rockies player had a triple and two homers in the same game since Ryan Spilborghs on June 13, 2010. More >

"Benny's got power to all fields," Weiss said. "You saw him drive the triple the other way, and that's been his trademark -- hitting the ball the other way and driving the ball. So he took some really good swings today, and he's done a real nice job for us."

Video: CIN@COL: Paulsen opens scoring with a two-run triple

Lorenzen struggled: For Lorenzen, it was the shortest start and most runs allowed during his brief big league career as he lasted only 2 1/3 innings. His trouble started in the first inning when he gave up back-to-back one out walks with only two of his first 11 pitches being strikes. Paulsen's two-out triple put Colorado ahead by a 2-0 score.

"Just no command of the fastball, it will get you in trouble at this level," Lorenzen said. "When you have no command of it, you just have to start throwing it over the plate and throw it for strikes, and they hit it pretty good."

CarGo ship: Entering the Cincinnati series, Carlos Gonzalez hadn't had a multi-homer game in more than two years, but he delivered his second of the weekend with a two-run homer in the third and a three-run shot in the fifth. The two homers were projected by Statcast™ to travel a combined distance of 818 feet from home plate and helped Gonzalez to his first six-RBI game since June 5, 2013 at Cincinnati.

"The game is giving me the opportunity to play every day," Gonzalez said. "So the manager and everybody never stopped believing in me when I was struggling earlier in the year. We had a few conversations, and I had to stay positive and just let the game talk. The more that you see pitches, the better you're going to feel at the plate. That's what's happening right now."

Video: CIN@COL: CarGo belts three-run shot for second homer

QUOTABLE
"It's just part of the game when you're in last place. I think it's our fault that we're in this situation because if we were playing good baseball, we'd be on the opposite side just looking to see who was going to join the team. Right now, all I can say is that we've got to continue to play good baseball and stay together, stay close. Show the front office, show the fans that we can win ballgames together, and that's how we're going to make changes." -- Gonzalez, on the Trade Deadline

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
The last time the Reds allowed 10 runs in an inning was July 6, 2009, during a 22-1 loss to the Phillies. Cueto started that game and allowed nine earned runs in two-thirds of an inning. Shortstop Paul Janish pitched the final inning. The last time Cincinnati gave up three homers in an inning was July 19, 2013, vs. the Pirates.

Video: CIN@COL: Arenado gives Rockies lead with two-run shot

It's been 54 years since the Reds last had two pitchers each allow eight runs in the same game. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it last happened to Bob Purkey and Jay Hook vs. the Cubs on June 28, 1961.

WHAT'S NEXT
Reds: The road trip continues with a three-game series that opens on Monday against the Cardinals at 8:15 p.m. ET. The Reds have lost their last nine series at St. Louis since their last win in September 2011. They are 3-29-2 in series at St. Louis since 2003. Raisel Iglesias will start the opener against Lance Lynn.

Rockies: Colorado will start a three-game set with the Cubs on Monday at 6:05 p.m. MT. Starting the series opener will be left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, who is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA in six career appearances (two starts) at Wrigley Field.

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