The Phillies starting rotation is still looking for its first quality start of 2009 as the Rockies crush the rotation’s ace, Cole Hamels, for seven runs, as the Phils lose to the Rockies, 10-3.

The Phils, for the first time this season, took the lead, as Pedro Feliz, in the second inning, hit a sacrifice fly, knocking in Jayson Werth, who had earlier doubled, and had gone to third base on shortstop Troy Tulowitzki’s fielding error of Raul Ibanez’s groundball, making it 1-0 Phillies. Hamels, meanwhile, threw two good innings, before getting pummeled by the Rockies in the third. Clint Barmes started the inning off with a double. Opposing pitcher Jason Marquis then followed him with an RBI single, scoring Barmes, tying up the game at one all. After Dexter Fowler is called out for batter interference on a bunt attempt for the inning’s first out, Ryan Spilborghs followed with a double, moving Marquis to third base, putting runners on second and third with one out. The next batter, Todd Helton, then hit into a 4-3 ground out for the inning’s second out, scoring Marquis, giving the Rockies a 2-1 lead, while sending Spilborghs over to third. Garret Atkins then followed with a two-run home run, his first home run of the season, scoring Spilborghs, and making it 4-1 Rockies. Brad Hawpe then got on base with a ground-rule double. Tulowitzki followed him with a triple, scoring Hawpe, and giving the Rockies a 5-1 lead. Chris Iannetta, the ninth batter of the inning, would finally end the nightmare by poping out to Carlos Ruiz in foul territory. The Phillies cut the Rockies’ lead to 5-2 as Feliz knocked in his second RBI of the game, this time with a 6-3 ground out, the second out of the inning, as he scored Werth, who had earlier doubled and had moved over to third base on an Ibanez 4-3 ground out. In the bottom half of the inning, the Rockies got the run back as Spilborghs doubled in Barmes, who had gotten on base with a single, had move over to second base on Marquis’ sacrifice bunt and had gone to third on Fowler’s 6-3 ground out, making it 6-2 Rockies. Helton followed with an RBI single, scoring Spilborghs, and giving the Rockies a 7-2 lead. After Hamels gave up a single to Atkins, putting runners on second and first, manager Charlie Manuel came to the mound and relieved Hamels, bringing in J.A. Happ. Happ ended the inning by getting Hawpe to ground out, 3-1, after earlier throwing a wild pitch which moved the runners up to third and second respectively. The score remained 7-2 until the bottom of the eighth, when the Rockies increased their lead with a three-run outburst. With Chad Durbin on the mound in relief, Fowler made it 8-2 Rockies with an one-out RBI single, as he knocked in Barmes, who had earlier reached base after being hit by the pitch and had moved up to second on pinch hitter Seth Smith’s walk, while Smith stopped at second base. Spilborghs then singled in Smith, making it 9-2 Rockies, while sending Fowler over to third, putting runners on the corners. Helton then followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Fowler, and giving the Rockies a 10-2 lead. In the ninth, Werth made it a 10-3 Rockies’ lead as he hit a lead-off home run, his first of the season, off of Rockies’ reliever Matt Belisle. But that would be it for the Phils, as Belisle got Ibanez to ground out to first, Greg Dobbs to strike out and Chris Coste to ground out, 6-3, to end the ballgame.

Cole Hamels took the lost for the Phils, as he pitched only three and two-thirds innings, giving up seven runs on eleven hits and a walk, while striking out only one batter. His record is now 0-1 with a high ERA of 17.18. J.A. Happ followed him and pitched an inning and a third of relief, giving up only one hit as he struck out one. Clay Condrey came to the mound next and pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out a batter. Chad Durbin then pitched an inning, giving up three runs on two hits, a walk, and a hit batter, while striking out one. Jason Marquis got the win for the Rockies, as he pitched a quality start, going seven innings, giving up just two runs on five hits and two walks, while striking out two. Marquis’ record is now 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA. Alan Embree followed with a scoreless inning, giving up just one hit and a walk. Matt Belisle then pitched an inning of relief, giving up a run on one hit, Werth’s home run, as he struck out a batter.

Jayson Werth led the team by going four for four, with two singles, a double and a home runs, scoring all three Phillies’ run, increasing his batting average to .333. Chase Utley also had a good day, as he went two for three with a walk, increaing his average to .429. Carlos Ruiz, who went 0 for 2, with his average dropping down to .273, was taken out of the game for an injury to his right oblique.

The Phillies (1-3) will continue their three-game series with the Rockies (3-1) in Denver with a night game tonight at Coors Field. The game will start at 8:10 pm Eastern Time (6:10 pm Mountain). The Phillies’ starter will be Brett Myers (0-1, 6.00), who will be looking for his first win of the young season, trying to improve on his start last Sunday against the Braves. The Rockies will counter with Jorge De La Rosa, who will be starting his first game of the year. Last season, in twenty-eight games, twenty-three of which were starts, he went 10-8 with a 4.92 ERA. This season, his record is 0-0 with a -.– ERA. The Phillies will be trying to tie the series with a win tonight.