Gonzalez batters Pirates pitching in Rockies’ win

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Carlos Gonzalez hit his 25th homer among his four hits, and the Colorado Rockies salvaged a split of a four-game series against last-place Pittsburgh with a 8-4 win over the Pirates on Sunday.

Gonzalez went 4 for 5 with his eighth homer in his past 11 games, three RBIs and two runs to complete a 9-for-18 series to help Colorado win for the seventh time in 10 games.

Summoned from Triple-A to start Sunday, Esmil Rogers was effective enough through six innings, allowing the Rockies to win for only the second time in their past 10 road games.

Jose Tabata, Neil Walker and Ronny Cedeno each had two hits for the Pirates, who have lost 20 of 29.

Full story appears in Monday’s edition of The Vindicator.