Rockies-Cubs box score

As they try to sort out their rotation, the Rockies have been able to fall back on one enormous strength. Their bullpen has been dominant recently, never more so than Sunday in a 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Matt Herges and three other relievers combined to pitch 5 2/3 hitless innings, retiring 16 of the 17 Cubs batters they faced and the first 14 in succession until a walk in the ninth.

The Cubs hit only three balls to the outfield against the Rockies bullpen, which has a 1.17 ERA since July 31, allowing six earned runs, 34 hits and 10 walks with 28 strikeouts in 46 innings.

This game shaped up as one where the bullpen could be used extensively, with Tim Harikkala making a start - it was his second in the majors and first in 11 years - and about one month after getting released by a team in South Korea.

Harikkala was designated for assignment after pitching into the fourth inning.

The move clears a roster spot for the return Tuesday of reliever Brian Fuentes and wasn't an indictment against Harikkala, who made 55 appearances for the Rockies in 2004.

"He knows he's not a starter at this level," manager Clint Hurdle said. "But he showed some resiliency. He made pitches the first three innings. He kept the ball down. He changed eye levels. He changed speeds."

Harikkala, 36, gave up nine singles, five in the fourth, when the Cubs took a 3-2 lead.

With one out and runners on first and second in what Hurdle said was "an inning that could have gotten away from us," he went to the bullpen, knowing LaTroy Hawkins, Jorge Julio and closer Manny Corpas were lined up for the final three innings.

The crucial part was the bridge to those late innings, a role filled by Herges, who pitched 2 2/3 innings. He came on to face Jacque Jones, 9-for-16 at that point in the series, and got him to ground into a double play.

"Jones is white-hot this whole series," said Herges, against whom hitters are 10-for-55 (.182) in his past 12 outings. "I went up there thinking, 'Don't try to strike him out. He's going to make contact; he's probably going to square it. Make sure it's down and, hopefully, he hits it at somebody.'

"Luckily, he hit it to (second baseman) Kaz (Matsui), and he turns it."

Troy Tulowitzki tied the score in the fifth with his 15th home run and doubled home the first two runs during a three-run sixth against Kerry Wood.

The rally included Ian Stewart's first major league hit, a pinch-hit double down the right- field line on a 1-0 fastball from Wood with Geronimo Gil on first.

"I'm trying to drive the ball somewhere, maybe get that guy in scoring position or score him even," Stewart said. "So to be able to hit a double and get him over to third with less than two outs in a tie game, it was awesome - lot of fun."

After an intentional walk to Matsui to load the bases, Tulo- witzki, who finished the homestand 14-for-29 with three home runs and 12 RBI, rocketed Wood's 2-1 pitch off the scoreboard in right field.

"I know he has a good fastball and know he likes to pitch with it," Tulowitzki said. "I was definitely thinking it was going to be a fastball, but I'm sure he wasn't trying to leave it up in the zone. But pitchers make bad pitches sometimes, and I took advantage of it."

Starting with Herges in the fourth, the Cubs didn't get a runner until Corpas gave up a walk with one out in the ninth, a speed bump on the way to his ninth consecutive save.

The win moved the Rockies past the Los Angeles Dodgers into third place in the National League West, five games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks, who lost to the Washington Nationals.

The Rockies are fourth, two games behind the San Diego Padres, in the wild-card chase.

The Rockies begin a three- game series Tuesday in San Diego, followed by three in Los Angeles after they salvaged a split of a four-game series with the Cubs to finish a 5-2 homestand.

"To go 5-2 on a homestand against the Brewers and the Cubs, the two best teams in the (NL) Central, you put the context that way, and it was a successful homestand," Matt Holliday said. "You go back out on the road, and it's going to be a tough path, playing San Diego and L.A. at their place. But you come out of the homestand probably about where you thought you would; 5-2 would be pretty good expectations."

etkinj@RockyMountainNews.com

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