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  Monday, Apr. 17 9:35pm ET
Rockies pound Daal without long ball
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

PHOENIX (AP) -- The Colorado Rockies don't like Omar Daal, so their 9-1 pounding of the Arizona Diamondbacks Monday night felt especially satisfying.

In two nights, Colorado has scored 23 runs without a homer, emphasizing the new look the former home run-loving team has under manager Buddy Bell.

Omar Daal
Daal

The Rockies even got consecutive bunt singles from their No. 3 and 4 hitters, Larry Walker and Jeff Cirillo, in a five-run first inning.

"It doesn't really matter how you score them," Bell said. "We have more pop than this, but the good thing about what we've done lately is we haven't got real greedy. We've cut down on our swing a little bit when we have to. ... We run the bases very well. We're as energized on the bases as any team I've been a part of, and that's a contagious thing."

Daal (0-1) hit Cirillo between the shoulders with a 2-0 pitch with two outs in the second. An angry Cirillo took a couple of steps toward the mound, shouting at Daal. Both dugouts and bullpens emptied but no punches were thrown.

"That's not the first time he's thrown at this team," Cirillo said. "Larry Walker got hit by him four times last year. He's thrown at me a lot of times. Going in we know he likes to work fast, and we're trying to slow up his rhythm. He doesn't like that. I know that's why he throws at me.

"You know that's very out of character for me to do something like that, but I know this guy. ... You could say he was just trying to get me off the plate or whatever, but this is a guy who's got the best control in the league."

Daal was noncommittal about the incident.

"I don't want to throw at anybody," he said. "It's part of the game."

The Rockies, who scored 14 runs without a homer in Sunday night's 14-13 marathon victory over St. Louis, won for the fifth time in six games.

Todd Helton knocked in three runs with two singles, and six other Rockies had two hits apiece, including winning pitcher Masato Yoshii. Terry Shumpert had a triple and double with two RBI.

Yoshii (1-1) allowed one run and seven hits in seven innings. He struck out two and walked two.

"We weren't particularly sharp tonight, but you've got to take your hat off to Colorado," Arizona manager Buck Showalter said. "They came in here after a tough day yesterday and were ready to play."

Daal, who had strong performances but no-decisions in his first two outings, allowed eight runs -- seven earned -- and 13 hits in 5

1/3 innings.

"I didn't think they hit many balls hard the whole game," Daal said. "They just hit them in the right spots. It was a bad game, and that's it."

Mike Lansing started the first-inning outburst with a one-out single, then Walker and Cirillo put down perfect bunts in front of ex-Rockie Lenny Harris at third base to load the bases.

Cirillo said his decision to bunt was spontaneous, but he had seen on videotape that Harris plays extremely deep and was virtually giving the bunt single to the opposition.

"For me, it was like an impulse thing," Cirillo said. "The umpire goes 'What, are you going to bunt, too?' I thought, 'Yeah, let's try that.' "

It was the last thing Harris expected.

"I was very shocked," he said. "I haven't seen anything like that in 11 years in the game."

Helton followed with a two-run single, then Shumpert's RBI double put Colorado up 3-0. A sacrifice fly by Neifi Perez made it 4-0. Daal intentionally walked Scott Servais to get to Yoshii, whose RBI single put the Rockies ahead 5-0.

Colorado scored three more in the sixth. Harris' error on Cirillo's hard grounder allowed one run to score, then Helton had an RBI single off Erubiel Durazo's glove at first and Shumpert drove across a run with a groundout.

Steve Finley's RBI single drove in Jay Bell for Arizona's lone run in the seventh.

Game notes
Arizona optioned OF David Dellucci to Triple-A Tucson and activated utility player Andy Fox, who had missed the first 12 games of the season with a hairline fracture in his left wrist. ... Colorado was the only NL West team to have a winning record against the Diamondbacks last season. ... Rockies OF Jeffrey Hammonds, who has been out since injuring a hamstring on opening day, was sent to the team's extended spring training camp in Tucson for rehabilitation. ... Arizona SS Tony Womack missed the game to attend his grandmother's funeral.

 


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