Rockies can't halt Phillies' knack for walk-offs

PHILADELPHIA -- For the second time in as many nights, closer Rafael Betancourt couldn't put the Phillies away in the ninth -- blowing his third save opportunity of the season as the Rockies dropped a 5-4 decision on Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park.

The loss overshadowed another big night offensively for catcher Wilin Rosario, who hit his 20th home run of the season, as the Rockies fell to 1-32 in road games where the home team scored first.

With two outs, Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins doubled into the right-field corner. Betancourt, who returned from the disabled list on Aug. 16 (appendicitis), allowed Rollins to steal third unabated. Michael Young followed with a two-strike dribbler to the left side that third baseman Nolan Arenado failed to pick up with his bare hand, and Rollins easily scored to tie the game at 4. After the play, Rockies medical personnel came onto the field to check on Betancourt, who promptly left with a sprained pitching elbow. He was saddled with the loss.

"You come out of the game, it's usually not good," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "He felt something in his elbow.

"He didn't mention anything about it [before the game]. Raffy has been great in the closer role. He's dealt with a couple of injuries, but he's a warrior."

Southpaw Jeff Francis entered the game and walked Chase Utley before allowing a walk-off single to Domonic Brown that scored Young from second.

"That's a part of the game," said Rockies starter Chad Bettis, who missed out on his first career win after going 5 1/3 innings, allowing just one run with five strikeouts. "You can't count the other team out until the last out is made and you have to give them credit. They just kept coming at us."

Rosario extended his hitting streak to 13 straight with a three-run home run in the sixth inning to give the Rockies a 4-1 lead.

After the Rockies (59-70) manufactured a run in the fifth to tie the game on Dexter Fowler's sacrifice fly, Troy Tulowitzki opened the sixth with a single over the head of Phillies shortstop Rollins. Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick had been very efficient over the first five innings as he scattered four hits and used just 58 pitches to reach the sixth, but Tulowitzki's single foreshadowed the end of the night for the veteran right-hander.

Michael Cuddyer followed Tulowitzki with a single into right and that brought Rosario to the plate. Kendrick had retired Rosario twice previously on the night, but his 1-1 pitch spent little time airborne before it crashed into the left-field stands. Just like that, the Rockies held a three-run lead. Kendrick lasted one more hitter, as Todd Helton's single to left put an end to his night one batter later.

Rosario's home run was his fifth at Citizens Bank Park in just seven games -- he also has five at Chase Field -- and his third in as many nights. As a catcher, his primary position even though he did play first on Wednesday, he has 18 home runs and 66 RBIs. He's also been particularly good on the road as 11 of his 20 home runs have come away from Coors Field.

"Wilin has been swinging the bat well," Weiss said. "For a few weeks now. That's a dynamic bat. He's an impact offensive player.

The Phillies got on the board in the second as Brown led off the inning with a single into right field.

Carlos Ruiz, whose double one night earlier tied the game at 3 in the ninth en route to a 4-3 Phillies win, hit a line drive down the left-field line that Corey Dickerson cut off before it reached the warning track. Brown took the opportunity to head for third and while the ball beat him to the bag, third-base umpire Jim Wolf ruled that Arenado missed the tag. Arenado argued the call to no avail and Ruiz scampered into second.

After a strikeout, Cody Asche hit a flare into left for a double that scored Brown and moved Ruiz to third. That was all the Phillies got off of Bettis, who settled down and struck out both Roger Bernadina and Kendrick to end the inning.

"I felt real good," said Bettis, who is the Rockies' No. 8 prospect, according to MLB.com. "I felt as good as my last start, but with better command and location of my pitches. I was just trying to get outs and keep us in it as long as possible."