DENVER (AP) — Todd Helton's two-run homer off Takashi Saito with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Colorado Rockies a 9-8 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers and a doubleheader sweep Tuesday night.

Saito retired his first two batters before Matt Holliday singled and Helton, playing the first meaningful September of his stellar career, sent a 1-2 fastball to right-centre for his fifth career game-ending homer.

Helton was mobbed at home plate by his teammates as the dejected Los Angeles Dodgers walked off the field. He came out of the dugout for a curtain call, pumping his left fist.

Until Helton's big homer, David Wells was in line for the win despite his first shaky outing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Saito (1-1) had converted 39 of 42 save opportunities.

Ryan Speier (1-1) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.

The Rockies won the opener 3-1 behind Jeff Francis of North Delta, B.C., who struck out a career-high 10 batters in his 16th win.

The teams played a split doubleheader to make up for a rainout on July 27 at Coors Field, and both clubs looked at it as crucial to their hopes of catching San Diego in the NL wild-card chase. The Los Angeles Dodgers began the day three games behind the Padres, and Colorado started five games back.

Wells looked more like the erratic 44-year-old left-hander that San Diego gave up on than the savvy September starter he was in his first four starts with Los Angeles.

Wells laboured through a 31-pitch first inning in which the Rockies batted around and erased a 3-0 deficit with RBI doubles by Troy Tulowitzki, Holliday and Ryan Spilborghs.

The only mistake Wells made after that was Holliday's 33rd homer, a two-run shot that gave Colorado a 5-4 lead in the fifth. Holliday's 446-foot shot into the centre-field seats was his 200th hit this season and the 100th homer of his career. He has homered in seven of his last nine games.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Grady Little was planning to bring Wells back Saturday on three days' rest at Arizona, but those plans might have changed after the big lefty allowed five earned runs and eight hits over five innings.

James Loney tied it at 5 when he greeted reliever Matt Herges with his 12th homer in the top of the sixth, and Tony Abreu's two-run triple off Jeremy Affeldt put Los Angeles ahead 7-5.

Pinch-hitter Russell Martin made it 8-5 in the eighth with his 18th homer, off Jorge Julio, but Spilborghs' two-run shot off Jonathan Broxton in the bottom half cut it to 8-7.

Wells, who was jettisoned last month by San Diego after going 0-3 with a 14.33 ERA in his final four starts with the Padres, had been 3-0 with a 3.91 ERA in four starts for the pitching-desperate Los Angeles Dodgers, providing the spark Los Angeles needed to remain in the playoff chase.

Colorado starter Mark Redman, who allowed four earned runs and seven hits in five innings, gave up an RBI single to Abreu and a two-run homer to Luis Gonzalez, his 15th, in the first.

So centred on keeping the Rockies' slim playoff hopes alive, Francis didn't realize until after he won the opener that he'd set a career high in strikeouts or a franchise record for wins by a lefty.

Francis (16-8) surpassed Shawn Estes, who had 15 in 2004, and put himself just one win shy of the franchise record set by Kevin Ritz in 1996 and tied by Pedro Astacio in 1999.

"When the season is over you can look back at things like that and be proud of them," Francis said. "But I think there's something bigger we're working toward right now."

Francis allowed one run and six hits, stranding eight runners in 6 2-3 innings. His 10 strikeouts were the most by a Rockies pitcher since Jason Jennings fanned 10 Giants on Aug. 28, 2003, a span of 661 games.

"Great time to pitch a great game," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "Very resilient, pitched through a lot of traffic early, left seven men on base in the first four innings, topped it off with 10 strikeouts. Nice bounce-back outing."

Coming off his worst performance of the year Thursday at Philadelphia, when he allowed eight runs and eight hits with four walks in less than four innings, Francis looked more like himself at Coors Field.

He outpitched Chad Billingsley (11-5), who lost despite yielding just two earned runs in 5 1-3 innings. In his last five starts, Billingsley is 4-1 with a 1.87 ERA, but he fell to 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA against Colorado.

Cory Sullivan doubled twice - into each corner - and scored the Rockies' first two runs. Holliday drove him home in the fourth with a single and Helton added an RBI single in the sixth off reliever Mark Hendrickson.

"I broke his bat with a curveball and he doubled just inside the line in left. I jammed him with a fastball and he muscled it past first base," Billingsley said. "They were well placed. There's nothing you can do about hits like that."

Manny Corpas tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his 15th save in 15 chances since supplanting Brian Fuentes as Colorado's closer.

Notes: Los Angeles Dodgers SS Rafael Furcal left the opener in the sixth with tightness in his lower back and missed the nightcap. ... RHP Esteban Loaiza will start for Los Angeles on Friday night at Arizona.

 

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