Article:The Tomahawk Times - James rocked by Colorado, Braves fall 12-6

DENVER -- The hits just kept on coming for the Colorado Rockies on a frigid Wednesday night at Coors field. Yorvit Torrealba  belted a three-run third inning blast that highlighted a six-run frame to help the Rockies cruise to a 12-6 win over the Atlanta Braves.

Coming into the night, Torrealba had yet to knock in a run this season. That would change in the third inning, as Torrealba helped Colorado bat around and score six times against Chuck James.

James (0-1) had all kinds of trouble in his first start of 2008. The Rockies struck James for six runs on five hits over three innings of work. The young southpaw did not help his own cause, hitting three Colorado hitters on the night. In 161.1 innings of work last year, James only hit one batter.

Ryan Spilbourghs also starred for the Rockies, who are riding a three game win streak after coming into the series having lost five in a row. Already with a pair of hits and two runs knocked in, Spilbourghs put the exclamation point on the night with a three-run homer off Chris Resop in the eighth. Resop was charged with five earned runs over the final two innings.

Rockies starter Mark Redman (1-1) overcame some early struggles and held Atlanta to just three runs in five innings of work in getting the win over his former club. The Braves scored one in the second and were threatening for more when James popped up a squeeze bunt attempt to Redman, who tossed back to third to double off Brian McCann and kill the Atlanta rally.

The Braves offense was paced by McCann, who went 3-for-4 with his second homer of the season and three RBI's on the night. Chipper Jones and Yunel Escobar both collected two hits and an RBI in five trips to the plate.

Matt Holliday stayed hot for the Rockies, cranking out two more hits and knocking in a pair of runs. Those two safeties have Holliday's average up to .286 on the year.

On Deck: Thursday's weather forecast is calling for 4"-6" of snow, making it questionable as to whether these two clubs will be able to complete the fourth and final game of the series. Tim Hudson is scheduled to take on Jeff Francis. Game time is set for 3:05 PM EST.