Bettis sent to Triple-A to refine command of pitches

LOS ANGELES -- Rockies righty reliever Chad Bettis' struggles with counts, which have led to some hard-hit balls at key times, resulted in his being optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs on Friday.

Bettis, sent down the day before his 26th birthday, was 0-1 with a 7.15 ERA in 11 1/3 innings over 11 games. On Wednesday, Bettis gave up an 11th-inning grand slam to the Giants' Hector Sanchez in a 12-10 loss. The homer came on the 10th pitch of an at-bat, with Sanchez sitting on a fastball, but the Giants had already loaded the bases against Bettis.

Manager Walt Weiss said Bettis, a second-round pick out of Texas Tech in 2007, still is being looked at as part of the team's late-inning future.

"This is an opportunity for Chad to go down and get his pitches in order," Weiss said. "He's a guy that we are looking at to put games away late. We feel like that's what he's going to be. That's his fit on this club. This gives him an opportunity to go down and get away from the high stakes of the Major Leagues and to work on some things."

The Rockies purchased the contract of righty Chris Martin from Colorado Springs. To make room for Martin, the Rockies placed lefty Brett Anderson (broken left index finger) on the 60-day disabled list, retroactive to April 13.