CINCINNATI (AP) - Alfredo Simon gave up home runs to Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson to start the game, and the Cincinnati Reds never got any closer.
Dickerson hit two home runs and two doubles, driving in a career-high four runs Saturday night as the Colorado Rockies routed the Reds 11-2.
Simon (4-2), who has filled in admirably for the injured Mat Latos in the Reds’ rotation, had six quality starts to begin the season.
“He made some mistakes up in the zone,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “When he is on you see batters pound the ball in the ground. He just couldn’t get the ball down.”
Justin Morneau homered off Simon in the third. It tied Simon’s career high for home runs allowed - the last time Simon gave up that many, he was in the Baltimore rotation in 2011.
Troy Tulowitzki later homered for the Rockies and Nolan Arenado doubled twice, a day after his 28-game hitting streak ended.
The Rockies got 11 extra-base hits, making things easy for Jordan Lyles (5-0). He struck out eight in six innings and left with a 10-2 lead.
“Their lineup was very comfortable,” Price said. “We are a team that uses both sides of the plate. Simon threw a lot of pitches over the middle.”
Simon was tagged a season-high eight hits and five runs in three innings.
“Today wasn’t one of our best games,” said catcher Brayan Pena, who is also filling in for the injured Devin Mesoraco. “That is a very hot lineup. Everybody knows Simon is a sinkerball pitcher. Today he was up a little bit. He feels bad about it. He came in to watch film.”
Blackmon led off the game with his eighth homer of the season and Dickerson followed with his third. It was the first time in team history that the Rockies had hit a pair of home runs to start a game.
Joey Votto, who hit a game-winning homer for the Reds in the ninth inning Friday night, hit his sixth shot in the second.
The Rockies started to pull away with a three-run third, beginning with Dickerson’s double. Arenado’s double set up Morneau’s eighth home run.
Blackmon and Dickerson hit RBI doubles in the fourth.
Dickerson’s second homer was a two-run shot that sailed 433 feet into the right-field seats in the sixth. Tulowitzki followed with his 11th homer of the season and second in two nights, a 386-foot shot into the left field seats.
The Reds starters were tied with Milwaukee’s starters for the most innings in the National League coming into the game.
“We needed a couple of guys to go two innings tonight. We had six innings to cover,” Price said. “Nick Christiani and J.J. Hoover gave up runs in their first inning but finished strong. We should be fine.”
NOTES: The Reds activated LHP Aroldis Chapman from the 15-day disabled list and optioned RHP Curtis Partch to Triple-A Louisville before the game. Chapman had missed the entire season after being struck in the face by a line drive in a spring training game on March 19 and undergoing surgery. … Despite doubling as a pinch-hitter on Friday night, Reds CF Billy Hamilton missed his seventh consecutive start because of sprained knuckles on two fingers of his left hand. Price wanted to make sure Hamilton is 100 percent, he said. “You can expect him to be in there (Sunday), I think it’s safe to say,” Price said.
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