Rockies hope Lopez's outing is blip on radar

DENVER -- When Rockies manager Walt Weiss put reliever Wilton Lopez into Thursday night's game with no outs and runners on second and third, he hoped the righty would induce a double play.

Instead, the Astros smacked back-to-back homers to left field, scoring four runs and putting the Astros in prime position for a 7-5 win. It was an uncharacteristic outing for Lopez, a proven reliever who has posted an ERA under 3.00 for each of the past three seasons and relies on ground balls to earn most of his outs.

The solution for returning to his 2012 form -- when he finished with a 2.17 ERA -- is simple, according to Weiss.

"He's just got to be himself, use his two-seamer, pitch to the bottom of the zone with that thing," Weiss said. "That's how he's had a lot of success in this league and that's the formula for him."

Catcher Yorvit Torrealba said after Thursday's game that Lopez "might have just been trying to do to much." Lopez left a cutter hanging over the plate for the first homer to Chris Carter and a changeup high in the zone for the second one to Matt Dominguez.