13th-inning homer leaves Rockies reeling

DENVER - St. Louis catcher Mike Matheny hit his first home run of the season, a three-run, 13th-inning shot that barely cleared the left-field wall, but gave the Cardinals a 15-12 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.

"We had several chances to win the game, but it just didn't work out," Rockies left fielder Gabe Kapler said. "But we're an explosive team, we have a potent offense and some resilient pitching. We'll bounce back."

The smallest crowd (21,563) in Coors Field history watched Rockies starter Aaron Cook get off to a stumbling start, giving up three hits and two walks to the first five batters he faced, with Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds delivering the big blow, a two-run double that helped his team to a 3-0 lead.

But Colorado responded with two runs in the bottom of the first. Consecutive singles by Chris Stynes and Jay Payton set the plate for first baseman Todd Helton, whose sharply-hit single to center field scored Stynes. The Rockies added another run and took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the second when Payton slapped a fastball to the right-field wall to score two runs and make the score 4-3.

Cardinals left fielder Albert Pujols tied the game in the third inning with a double that scored Edgar Renteria, and St. Louis reclaimed the lead in the fourth. Pitcher Jason Simontacchi hit a one- out infield single which was smothered by second baseman Brent Butler. But Fernando Vina quickly followed with another shot to Butler, who got to the ball again, but had trouble getting it out of his glove. It was only a split-second bobble, but it was enough to keep Colorado from the inning-ending double play. That brought up Edmonds, and he crushed a three-run homer to put the Cardinals up 7- 4.

But Colorado began to chip away. A Payton single followed by a Helton double cut the lead to 7-5. Helton then scored when Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen couldn't handle a Preston Wilson shot that short-hopped off his glove into left field.

However, Colorado still trailed 7-6 entering the bottom of the sixth, but consecutive singles from Helton and Walker gave the Rockies runners at the corners with no outs. Wilson lined the third pitch into left-center field for a two-run triple and an 8-7 Colorado lead. A Jose Hernandez single, followed by Charles Johnson's first home run of the year, a 418-foot shot, capped a five-run inning, and gave the Rockies what looked like a comfortable 11-7 lead.

But the advantage evaporated as the Cardinals scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning.

SKY SOX POSTPONED

The Sky Sox were postponed on Tuesday at New Orleans due to inclement weather. The game will be made up as part of an 11:05 a.m. doubleheader on June 14. The Sky Sox will face New Orleans today at 10:05 a.m.

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