Weiss would have let De La Rosa pitch with no-no

CHICAGO -- Rockies manager Walt Weiss is keeping a careful eye on the number of pitches his starters throw. That's particularly the case with left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, who underwent elbow surgery in 2011 and was limited to three starts last year.

But Weiss was willing to ask a little more of De La Rosa on Sunday afternoon.

De La Rosa threw 6 2/3 no-hit innings before Cardinals third baseman David Freese singled and he finished with seven innings of two-hit ball, walking three and striking out seven in a 6-2 win. He finished with 100 pitches and admitted to feeling fatigue. But if he did not give up a hit in the seventh, he would have had a chance to push as far as he could.

"I was going to let him go," Weiss said. "There gets to a point where we're always looking for ways to protect our pitching, but I'd have had a real hard time going out there and taking him out when he had a no-hitter."

But if it isn't a special occasion, Weiss will continue to err on the side of caution.

"Not in the near future, I'm not going to let him throw 115 pitches," Weiss said. "I'll just play that by ear. The way that the pitching has worked out so far, it's worked very well. Because of those guys in the middle [right-handers Edgmer Escalona and Adam Ottavino, and lefty Josh Outman], the fact that they've thrown the ball so well, it's taken a lot of pressure off our starters and the back end of our bullpen."