DENVER (AP) - Chris Carter reached 40 homers for the first time Friday night, and he wants to keep going.
Carter hit a leadoff drive in the fourth inning of the Milwaukee Brewers’ 4-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies.
“It’s definitely nice, it’s a place I’ve never been,” Carter said. “’’In (2014) I ended up with 37 and couldn’t make it to it.”
Nolan Arenado hit his NL-leading 41st homer for Colorado, and Chad Bettis pitched effectively into the seventh inning. Charlie Blackmon had three hits.
Arenado and Carter are vying for the league lead in homers with two games left.
“He’s a great hitter,” Arenado said. “He’s had an unbelievable year.”
Brent Suter (2-2) allowed four runs and 10 hits in five innings for Milwaukee.
With D.J. LeMahieu aboard after a fielder’s choice, Arenado drove a 2-1 offering from Suter over the center-field fence to make it 2-0 in the first inning.
The Rockies added to their lead with run-scoring singles by Blackmon in the second and Nick Hundley in the third.
“I feel bad I gave up the lead for Chris,” Suter said. “Hopefully he gets a couple these next couple games.”
Carter led off the fourth with a drive to center that sailed into the Brewers’ bullpen. He also had a leadoff double in the sixth, but was thrown out at the plate by left fielder David Dahl when he tried to score on Hernan Perez’s single.
Bettis (14-8) allowed one run and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings while extending a career high in wins this season. He struck out five in Colorado’s first win in four games against Milwaukee this year.
Carlos Estevez got four outs before Adam Ottavino worked the ninth for his seventh save.
The Brewers loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but Bettis fanned pinch hitter Josmil Pinto to end the threat.
HIT PARADE
Carter joined five others with 40-homer seasons for the Brewers. Richie Sexson and Prince Fielder each did it twice. Gorman Thomas, Ben Oglivie, and Ryan Braun also reached the milestone.
“His swing is looking really good and I’m so happy for him getting 40,” Suter said. “It stinks to lose but that’s at least a little bit of a silver lining.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who hasn’t played since Sept. 16, has been diagnosed with a sports hernia and is expected to undergo surgery.
Rockies: LHP Tyler Anderson has been scratched from his scheduled start Saturday because of what manager Walt Weiss described as general arm soreness. He’ll be replaced on the mound by RHP Jeff Hoffman.
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Wily Peralta (7-11) has gone 3-4 with a 3.23 ERA in nine starts since being recalled Aug. 9 from Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Rockies: Hoffman (0-4) returns to the rotation as the replacement for the injured Anderson. He has pitched well in a couple of relief appearances since being shifted to the bullpen after struggling in his first stint as a starter.
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