DENVER -- Kevin Correia again pitched well enough to win Saturday, and this time he did, as the Minnesota Twins beat the Colorado Rockies, 9-3.
Lately, Correia (5-11) had come away from his outings with the satisfaction of another good start and one more hard-luck loss. Indeed, the Twins had been shut out in his past two outings and three times in his past six starts.
During that span, Correia went 2-4 despite a 2.43 ERA, allowing 10 earned runs in 37 innings, and had pitched at least six innings in each outing.
Correia went that distance again, gave up one run and doubled home a run in the fourth. That was the final run allowed by Rockies starter Tyler Matzek, who also went six innings.
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The Twins broke the game open with three runs in the eighth. Pinch hitter Chris Parmalee delivered a two-run single. The hit came against Chad Bettis, who had relieved Matzek.
Bettis gave up a single and two walks to load by bases for Parmalee, who lined Bettis' first pitch to center.
Catcher Kurt Suzuki, who had walked, took third when center fielder Charlie Blackmon's throw got past catcher Mike McKenry. Second baseman Brian Dozier followed with a sacrifice fly off Brooks Brown.
The Twins added two more runs in the ninth on Suzuki's slow roller with two out that third baseman Nolan Arenado tried unsuccessfully to pick up barehanded. He was charged with an error for obstructing left fielder Josh Willingham, who scored the second run.
The Twins scored twice in the first, which could have been a bigger inning. They had runners on first and second with two out when shortstop Troy Tulowitzki leaped to catch center fielder Sam Fuld's line drive on Tyler Matzek's 30th pitch.
Second baseman Brian Dozier led off with a double, his line drive striking Matzek (1-4) on the side of his left leg and going well past the third baseline into foul territory.
Matzek then fielded shortstop Eduardo Escobar's grounder and with Dozier well off the base, threw to second but threw low, allowing Dozier to move to third. Both runners scored on first baseman Kendry Morales' double.
Escobar made it 3-0 when he led off the third with his third home run. The Twins tacked on a run in the fourth on a leadoff double by Willingham and another by Correia with two out that made it 4-0.
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The Rockies broke through against Correia in the fifth. Second baseman DJ LeMahieu led off with a single and took second when Matzek, attempting a slug bunt, grounded to second.
Blackmon, who went 5-for-5, flared a single into short right field to make it 4-1. Right fielder Carlos Gonzalez followed with a broken-bat single, but Tulowitzki grounded into a double play.
The Rockies had a runner thrown out at the plate to end the third. With runners on first and second and two out, first baseman Justin Morneau singled up the middle. Second baseman Dozier made a backhanded stab and threw out Blackmon at the plate.
Angel Hernandez made the call at home and as the crew chief ordered a review to see if catcher Eric Fryer had blocked the plate without possession of the ball in violation of Rule 7.13. The call was upheld.
NOTES: Rockies RF Carlos Gonzalez batted second for the first time this season. In his other starts, he had batted third 31 times, fourth on 19 occasions and fifth once. He made 21 previous career starts batting second, including two last season. ... Twins LF Josh Willingham batted sixth for the first time this season after batting third five times, fourth 27 times and fifth 11 times. This was Willingham's 62nd career start batting sixth, including seven times last year. ... Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa improved to 41-14 at Coors Field with his win Friday night. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only two other active pitchers had more wins in their first 55 decisions in a current major league stadium, Tim Hudson 42-13 at O.Co. Coliseum in Oakland and Max Scherzer 42-13 at Comerica Park in Detroit.
