DENVER – Brandon Beachy had been warned that sliders tended not to slide as much in the thin air at Coors Field, and the Braves rookie said he'd have to find out for himself.
Tuesday night, he found out.
Beachy gave up a three-run homer in the first inning and a two-run homer in the second en route to his worst performance in a 12-3 loss against the Colorado Rockies.
"They have to experience it," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said of first-timers pitching at Coors Field. "They really do."
Suddenly surging Dan Uggla had his first two-homer game of the season, but his long balls and Martin Prado’s 500th career hit were the bright spots for the Braves on a night they would otherwise like to forget.
It was the fifth loss in 18 games for Atlanta, which fell back to 3-1/2 games behind National League East leader Philadelphia. The Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 4-2.
Uggla extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a leadoff homer in fourth inning, then led off the sixth with his team-high 17th homer. He wasn't in any mood to celebrate.
“It was a rough night," Uggla said. "Beachy was battling, and battling and battling. They just kept taking advantage of his mistakes. But he kept battling. They were on tonight.”
The Braves still trailed 6-2 after Uggla's second homer, and the Rockies blew the game open with four runs in the sixth off reliever Cory Gearrin.
Beachy and fellow rookie Gearrin issued a total of nine walks – and a hit batter – before the end of the sixth inning. They were charged with 10 runs between them.
Beachy (3-2) gave up six runs, nine hits and a career-high five walks in 4-2/3 innings, but insisted the mile-high ballpark wasn't the cause. He pitched on 10 days of rest -- more than twice the usual -- since his previous start July 8 at Philadelphia.
“I don’t think this place had anything to do with it," he said. "I struggled with my slider in Philadelphia and again today. I was just getting around it a little bit, trying to overthrow it a little bit to compensate for getting around it. And that doesn’t really solve that.”
The right-hander gave up as many runs (six) in the first three innings as he allowed in 30 innings in his previous five road starts this season, and Gonzalez believed the venue had plenty to do with that.
"I’m glad he got us almost through the fifth inning, because those first couple of innings I didn’t think he was going to," Gonzalez said. "And we’d have really been behind the eight-ball. Even him giving us a couple of extra innings, I think he learned from it and starting throwing the changeup a little bit more than he did the breaking balls. I think it’s a good experience.
Beachy had been 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA on the road before his first venture to the ballpark that’s been a nightmare for many pitchers before him, and will be for many to come. Troy Tulowitzki's three-run homer in the first inning and Carlos Gonzalez's two-run homer in the second both came on sliders.
"Full count there to Tulowitzki, I throw him a slider right down the middle that hangs, doesn’t bite," Beachy said. "Throw a better pitch there, we’re out of the inning and nothing happens.
"And again to Gonzalez, I was ready to try to throw a backdoor slider. I felt fully confident that I was going to get him on it. I just didn’t get it there.”
Beachy issued one more walk in 4-2/3 innings than in all his other road starts combined this season. He’s known for his pinpoint command, and had more than two walks in only three of his 15 career starts before Tuesday.
"I struggled with my fastball early, especially away to lefties," he said. "I was leaving it a couple of inches off the plate, and he wasn’t giving me that, and I just kept going there. Didn’t make that adjustment."
Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez (6-8) held the Braves to two runs and seven hits in 6-2/3 innings, with two walks and nine strikeouts. Uggla had been 1-for-9 against Jimenez before taking him deep twice Tuesday.
"He made a couple of mistakes to me and I was able to take advantage of them," said Uggla, who has done that to a lot of pitches lately.
He's finally heated up after what was far and away the worst first half of his career. Uggla is 14-for-41 (.341) with four doubles, five homers and eight RBIs during his 11-game hitting streak -- and still at .192 for the season.
It was his 12th multi-homer game and first since July 27, 2010 at San Francisco, when he with the Florida Marlins.
"That’s what this place does," he said of Coors Field. "The ball flies at this place. That’s why it’s fun to come here for hitters. Not so much for pitchers. If you get it up in the air and get a little backspin underneath it, any popup pretty much has a chance."
Gearrin was charged with four runs, two hits and four walks, raising his ERA to 7.85.
He entered a tough situation in the fifth, to face left-handed slugger Carlos Gonzalez with runners on the corners and two out. Gearrin struck him out on three pitches.
Things came apart on the young sidearmer in the sixth. With two outs and a runner on, Seth Smith bounced an RBI triple off the center-field warning track. Ian Stewart was walked intentionally to bring up Chris Iannetta, who walked to load the bases.
Atlanta native Dexter Fowler cleared them with a triple over the glove of diving center fielder Jordan Schafer, his three-run hit pushing the lead to 10-2. Gearrin walked pitcher Jimenez and hit Gonzalez with his next pitch before a merciful pitching change.
“His first time in Coors Field, too," Gonzalez said. "The other day at home, I think he struck out the side, or at least got three right-handed hitters out. He’s had a difficult time getting left-handed hitters out. We need to get him to throw something else, a changeup or something, to get those left-handers off that fastball.”
