Rockies rally, then walk off vs. Dodgers to snap skid

DENVER -- Brandon Barnes' 10th-inning fly ball went farther than he expected, but not quite far enough for a home run -- and his Rockies teammates let him know about it.

"They said I've got to get in the weight room," Barnes said.

Nonetheless, Barnes lifted a weight from the Rockies' shoulders. His hit was good enough for a two-out RBI triple to defeat the Dodgers, 5-4, on Saturday afternoon and end the Rockies' season-worst losing streak at eight games.

Justin Morneau singled with one out off Dodgers' reliever Chris Perez (0-3) in the 10th. Michael McKenry struck out before Barnes launched Perez's 0-1 slider just beyond the reach of Dodgers center fielder Andre Ethier.

"We were riding a pretty bad streak of losing, but we never thought about that," said Barnes, who made his teammates chase him around the heart of the infield before they could mob him in celebration. "We went out there every day with authority and played as hard as we could, and came out on the losing end."

It took until the fifth game of the current 10-game homestand for the Rockies (29-32) to take their first win. The three-game set with the Dodgers concludes Sunday afternoon, followed by four games with the Braves starting Monday.

Saturday wasn't perfect.

Much like several of the losses, the starting pitcher didn't last an ideal number of innings, although Jhoulys Chacin (six-plus innings, three runs, six hits, four strikeouts) had the best of his seven starts since returning from a right shoulder strain. The bullpen gave up a lead late, which was another theme of the losing skid.

But the Rockies had believed throughout the skid that their basic competitive traits would pay off for them. They did Saturday.

"It says a lot about the club, but I already knew everything it says about the club," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "We're in a tough stretch here, but guys are showing up the same way and competing, every day."

The Rockies' offense, inconsistent of late, managed 11 hits in seven innings against Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, but just four runs. Michael McKenry, who started when Wilin Rosario was scratched because of illness just before the game, singled in a run in the second, and Josh Rutledge and Charlie Blackmon added RBI singles in the fifth.

The Rockies overcame a deflating top of the seventh. Chacin walked Matt Kemp and yielded Andre Ethier and Justin Turner singles, with Turner's driving in a run. Then righty reliever Nick Masset, on his first pitch, gave up Tim Federowicz's first home run of the season for a 4-3 deficit.

But the Rockies tied it against Greinke when Drew Stubbs singled with two out in the bottom of the seventh, and Dickerson singled in the tying run.

"I missed too far out of the zone and got into a tough spot," said Greinke, who fell behind in the count, 3-0, before Dickerson tied it on a 3-1 curve. "At the same time, with [Troy] Tulowitzki on deck, I wanted to throw quality pitches and make him beat me. Maybe it was too many curves. [Federowicz] called a fastball, but I shook him off."

Both teams escaped tight situations late.

Rockies reliever Rex Brothers worked an Adrian Gonzalez groundout to end the Dodgers' seventh with two aboard. Kemp tripled off Brothers to open the eighth, but Brothers forced an Ethier grounder, and Adam Ottavino did the same with Turner and Federowicz. Gonzalez grounded out against Franklin Morales (4-4) with two on to end the top of the ninth.

The escapes, especially from a bullpen that has struggled for the last two weeks, seemed to energize the Rockies. But McKenry said he has felt the same energy level throughout, even when wins escaped.

"We play so many, but every single one is important," McKenry said. "We're going to go through rough stretches, through great stretches. We just have to keep the foot down on the gas and keep going."

Dodgers reliever Brandon League forced a groundout from Charlie Culberson with two out and runners at the corners in the eighth.

Morales, who was in the starting rotation until this week but is a versatile bullpen arm, held the Dodgers to one hit in 1 1/3 innings in his third straight solid relief performance.

"I've had bad outings, but right now, I feel better and better," Morales said.

Beyond ending the streak, the Rockies' biggest reason for happiness might have been the first six innings for Chacin, who has had trouble at the start of games or sometimes at the start of innings early in games.

Chacin won 14 games last year but started slowly after being activated. If he and lefty Jorge De La Rosa, who starts Sunday, can begin a roll, it could assist a rotation that's missing three starters because of injury -- Brett Anderson (broken left index finger), Tyler Chatwood (strained right flexor tendon) and Jordan Lyles (broken left hand).

"You could tell right away -- the first inning, the first hitter -- [Chacin] was himself again," Weiss said.

Chacin realized he must pitch better than he did in the seventh to return to his workhorse self, but he found his clutch pitching form in the sixth. With two on and two out, he just missed with an 0-2 pitch but made Gonzalez swing over a slider.

"I pitch more to get the out, but in that situation, you're looking more for a strikeout, and I made a good pitch," Chacin said. "That was a big strikeout for me."