Dodgers continue to roll as slumping Rockies lose 11th of last 13

DENVER (AP) -- James Loney came to bat in the eighth with a chance for a record-setting night.

He had to settle for a stellar night instead.

Loney homered and drove in six runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 12-7 on Saturday night to extend their winning streak to eight.

He had a chance to break his single-game record of nine RBIs when he came to the plate with the bases loaded in the eighth, but he struck out.

"I was just trying to hit a ball hard somewhere, but I missed my pitch on the first pitch," Loney said.

The Dodgers didn't miss many pitches. They finished with 14 hits, and they've scored 11 or more runs in three of their last four games.

"It seems like everybody's getting that rhythm together," Russell Martin said. "We're having fun playing right now, and that's the main thing."

Brad Hawpe went 3-for-5 with a homer and drove in four runs, and Matt Holliday also homered for the Rockies, who have lost three straight and 11th of their last 13 games. Colorado is 11-19 and is eight game under .500 for the first time since May 22, 2007.

"It's not fun losing. We are a quality team with a lot of good players," Hawpe said. "To go out there and lose and have as tough as stretch as we have had lately is upsetting."

Hong-Chih Kuo (1-1) got the win in relief of Esteban Loaiza, allowing one run and striking out five in 3 2/3 innings.

Jorge De La Rosa (0-1) took the loss in his first major league game of the season. De La Rosa, acquired from Kansas City on Wednesday, gave up nine runs and nine hits with three walks in four innings.

The Rockies said De La Rosa was not the player to be named later in the March 27 trade for reliever Ramon Ramirez. The teams have until June 15 to complete that deal. Instead, the team said De La Rosa was acquired in a separate deal, for another player to be determined in the future.

Juan Pierre went 3-for-4 and Rafael Furcal had two hits and scored three runs for the Dodgers, who have won nine of their last 10.

Loney was the difference in the game. He hit a three-run double in the first inning, and his three-run homer in the fifth that made it 9-6 and chased De La Rosa.

"The hanging slider to Loney was a deal-breaker," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said.

Loney's six RBIs were the most since his two-homer, nine-RBI performance at Colorado on Sept. 28, 2006. He also had hit his first major league home run against Colorado, on Sept. 2, 2006.

He nearly had another RBI in the sixth, but center fielder Willy Taveras made a diving catch of Loney's drive to the gap in left-center.

"When he uses the whole field, he's pretty special," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "He's got some tools, the only thing he needs are at-bats that are going to make him a whole lot more consistent."

The Dodgers took a 6-0 lead with four runs in the first and two in the second. Loney's three-run double highlighted the first. Matt Kemp had a sacrifice fly and Jeff Kent an RBI groundout in the second.

Colorado rallied for three runs in the bottom of the second, and tied it in the third. Holliday led off with a blast to deep left-center, his fifth of the year. After Garrett Atkins chased Loaiza with a double, Hawpe hit Kuo's first pitch into the right field seats to make it 6-6.

Kuo settled down after that, giving up just two hits and retiring nine of 10 batters at one stretch.

"That was a huge three-plus," Torre said of Kuo. "He got us the stability back."

Game notes
The Rockies placed SS Troy Tulowitzki on the 15-day DL with a torn quadriceps muscle in his left leg. The move is retroactive to April 29. ... Helton's double in the second inning was the 800th extra-base hit of his career. ... Martin started at 3B for the second straight game. ... Colorado's Jonathan Herrera got his first major league hit with a single in the bottom of the sixth.