Cook wins 14th, Rockies top Bucs

Aaron Cook tied Brandon Webb and Cliff Lee for the major league lead in wins.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Cook won his 14th game, Troy Tulowitzki kept up his torrid pace with three more hits and the Colorado Rockies avoided a sweep with a 7-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday night.

Chris Iannetta hit a three-run home run and Garrett Atkins, Matt Holliday and Willy Taveras had two hits each for Colorado, which improved to 10-3 since the All-Star break.

Cook (14-6) pitched seven solid innings to tie Arizona’s Brandon Webb and Cleveland’s Cliff Lee for the major league lead in wins. Cook allowing four runs and nine hits to win his third straight start. He had never won more than nine games in any of his first six seasons.

Tulowitzki went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Since coming off the 15-day disabled list on July 21, the shortstop has raised his average from .166 to .241 by going 20-for-36 (.556).

The Pirates, who rallied for wins in the first two games of the series, rallied from a 6-0 deficit but couldn’t complete the comeback this time.

Brian Fuentes pitched a scoreless ninth for his 18th save. The left-hander now has 103 career saves, all with the Rockies, surpassing the previous team mark set by Jose Jimenez from 2000-03.

Iannetta’s home run capped a four-run fifth against Pittsburgh starter Zach Duke and gave Colorado a 6-0 lead. Atkins, who score two runs, also had a RBI single in the inning.

Duke (4-9) went five innings, allowing six runs and eight hits. The left-hander dropped to 0-5 in his past nine starts, and hasn’t won since June 9 against Arizona. In three second-half starts, Duke has a 11.25 ERA.

Pittsburgh, which left two runners on base in the second, third and fourth innings, broke through with a four-run fifth. Jason Bay had a two-run single, Ryan Doumit drove in a run with a double and Jose Bautista also had a RBI.

They didn’t score again.

Tulowitzki’s RBI in the seventh put Colorado ahead 7-4.

Bautista had three hits, and Ryan Doumit and Jack Wilson added two hits for the Pirates.

Notes

As expected, Pittsburgh manager John Russell said right-hander Jeff Karstens will make his Pirates debut Friday when he starts against the Chicago Cubs. Karstens was acquired from the New York Yankees last Saturday as part of a six-player trade.