rockies

By Erik Matuszewski Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) — Yorvit Torrealba hit his first home run in more than five months as the Colorado Rockies defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 to tie their first-round playoff series at one game each. Torrealba hit a two-run homer off Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels in the fourth inning as the Rockies opened a 4-0 lead and then held off the defending World Series champions at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The best-of-five National League division series now moves to Coors Field in Denver for two games, with Game 3 scheduled for Oct. 10. The weather forecast calls for near-freezing temperatures in Colorado and possible snow showers. Two other Major League Baseball playoff games are scheduled for today, as the Los Angeles Dodgers host the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 2 of their NL series after winning last night, and the Boston Red Sox visit the Los Angeles Angels in the opener of their American League series. Hamels took the loss today for the Phillies, allowing four runs on seven hits over five innings. Hamels, who was 4-0 during the team’s World Series run last postseason, has a 0-7 record in 10 day starts this season, with a 5.60 earned run average. Hamels had complained before Game 1, saying the early start times for both the first two games were unfair and that most players would rather play at times they’ve grown comfortable with over the season. Early Score The Rockies pushed across a run in the first inning, as Carlos Gonzalez singled, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on a groundout. With two outs in the fourth inning, Torrealba pushed Colorado’s lead to 3-0 by hitting his third homer of the season and first since May 6. Dexter Fowler’s sacrifice fly made it 4-0 for the Rockies the next inning. It was the last inning for Hamels, who later left the stadium after his wife, Heidi, went into labor with the couple’s first child. The Phillies came within 4-3 in the sixth inning, as Ryan Howard had a run-scoring double to chase Rockies starter Aaron Cook from the game and Raul Ibanez added a two-run double against reliever Jose Contreras . Cook had scattered three hits over five shutout innings before giving up three straight hits to start the sixth. Fowler hit another sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh inning as the Rockies pushed their lead to 5-3. The Phillies again got within a run on Jayson Werth’s solo homer in the eighth inning and put two runners on base in the ninth before Rockies closer Huston Street retired Shane Victorino on a line drive to seal the win and even the series. To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net