MEDIA CLIPS – June 17, 2015 Rusin struggles as Rockies drop slugfest By Thomas Harding and Chandler Rome / MLB.com | June 16th, 2015 HOUSTON -- Luis Valbuena homered twice and knocked in four runs and Hank Conger added a solo shot as the Astros stayed just out of the Rockies' reach in an 8-5 win on Tuesday at Minute Maid Park in the second of a four-game home- and-home series. The Astros, who went deep three times in a 6-3 victory over the Rockies on Tuesday, are 25-0 in games when they hit multiple homers. "That's how we've been playing all year long -- hitting in bunches and guys coming through, we just need that momentum to kind of roll," Conger said. "Hitting is contagious. People tell you it isn't, but guys get in grooves." Valbuena homered for one run in the second and three in the third -- when the Astros scored five times to overcome a 3-1 deficit. Both blasts came off Rockies starter Chris Rusin (2-2), who yielded seven runs and nine hits in four innings. Valbuena's game-turning shot was a fly that barely landed in the Crawford Boxes in left, but Rusin said it was appropriate payment for poor location. "I tried to go in but I left it middle, and he was able to inside-out it to left field to the short porch," Rusin said. "If I make my pitch there, he either grounds out or it jams him. Carlos Gonzalez's eighth homer of the season provided two fifth-inning runs and chased Astros righty starter Vince Velasquez after 4 2/3 innings. But Will Harris (3-0) stabilized the contest with 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Chad Qualls came up big in the eighth, when he forced DJ LeMahieu into a fielder's choice grounder with the potential tying run at the plate. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Clutch third: With the Astros trailing, 3-2, and two outs in the third, Conger worked the count full, then laced an RBI single. Domingo Santana followed with his first Major League hit, also a two-strike knock, to score Evan Gattis before Valbuena's second home run blew the game open. "To be able to put that type of number up -- that game was obviously slow and a lot of activity -- to put that big number up at home I think put a lot of confidence in our dugout and put them behind the eight-ball," said Houston manager A.J. Hinch.More > It's the little things: The Rockies counterpunched against the Astros' potent offense, but were hurt by two costly miscues. In the first, first-base umpire Bob Davidson called Rusin for a balk that moved George Springer to second. He would score on Jose Altuve's single. In the fifth with Colorado facing a four-run deficit, Charlie Blackmon tried to take second on Corey Dickerson's deep fly ball, but Astros center fielder Jake Marisnick threw him out easily. The inning included Troy Tulowitzki's single and Gonzalez's two-run shot -- either of which could have driven in Blackmon. Altuve's back: Altuve, who said before the game his strained right hamstring felt 100 percent, cranked an RBI single on the fifth pitch he saw, plating George Springer for the game's first run and the Astros' eighth first-inning run in the last 1 three games. He drew a walk and came around to score in the third before he was robbed of another hit by third baseman Nolan Arenado's spectacular diving double play in the fourth. "I talked to him during the game and he assured me he was really just guarded more than anything else. I'd rather him be guarded than overextending himself," Hinch said. "Obviously, he wasn't running with the burst of speed that everyone's used to. I'll check with him, we'll get on an airplane. I'm not sure what I'm going to do the next day or two with him. He feels fine, he was just going to make sure there was no mishap today." More > Warmed by the glow of highlights: Arenado continued his year of highlight packages with two dazzlers -- a diving grab of an Altuve ground smash to start a fourth-inning double play, and a foul-ground laser throw to retire Evan Gattis at first in the sixth. QUOTABLE "If you just look at traditional numbers, it's not always pretty with the batting average. But he's hitting down near the bottom of the batting order and leads our team in home runs. That type of potent bats at the bottom, you can't fall asleep at the bottom of the order or he'll change the score." -- Hinch, on Valbuena's 16 home runs this season "It's a bad road trip. There's no doubt. But we've got a lot of home games coming up. We're not there yet [at the brink of the season falling apart], but we've got to start winning series." -- Rockies second baseman LeMahieu, on a 1-5 road trip to Miami and Houston that threatens to undo much of the momentum of late May and early June SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Six of Valbuena's eight total hits in June have been home runs. His two-homer day Tuesday gave him 16 for the season. Catcher Michael McKenry tripled in the Rockies' three-run second inning, and is making it a habit. After not recording a triple in his first 862 career plate appearances, Tuesday's was his third in the last 18. REPLAY REVIEWS There was a crew-chief review in the first inning when Colorado designated hitter Corey Dickerson smacked Velasquez's second pitch of the at-bat to deep left field. It was ruled a double on the field, and the call was ruled to stand after a review of one minute and 51 seconds. A second crew-chief review was initiated in the seventh after Gonzalez's mammoth shot near the right-field foul pole was originally called a home run. The call was overturned and it was ruled a foul ball after a review of two minutes and 18 seconds. Gonzalez struck out when he returned to the plate, ending the inning. WHAT'S NEXT Rockies: Righty Kyle Kendrick (2-8, 5.87 ERA) pitched well in his last two outings, both against the Marlins, yielding just four runs in 13 2/3 innings, but the Rockies struggled offensively and lost both. Kendrick will try to maintain his momentum and hope for better luck against the Astros on Wednesday at 6:40 p.m. MT. Astros: Lefty Brett Oberholtzer will head to the mound as the series shifts to Colorado. Oberholtzer, who is finally healthy after blister issues plagued him early in the season, is coming off his finest start of the season, in which he tossed eight scoreless innings and allowed just three hits in a 10-0 rout of Seattle on Friday. Watch every out-of-market regular season game live on MLB.TV. Thomas Harding is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter@harding_at_mlb, and like his Facebook page. Chandler Rome is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. 2 Betancourt gaining strength after 'pen session By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | June 16th, 2015 HOUSTON -- Rockies reliever Rafael Betancourt was sweaty but energetic Tuesday morning. It sure beat the way he had felt for more than a month. Betancourt had thrown his second bullpen session since going on the 15-day disabled list last week with what the team announced was a sinus infection and vertigo symptoms. The 40-year-old right-hander explained that he was so congested in his head and resonating areas of his face that he had a hard time recovering from activity, couldn't maintain balance and had greatly diminished endurance. "Almost every year I deal with sinus stuff," Betancourt said. "But this time was very bad. Since late April, I was feeling kind of weird. Some [congestion] came out -- that was during the doubleheader we had with Arizona at home [May 6]. Then we went on the road and my body started feeling icky -- like, weak." His issues worsened. Even in Cincinnati, when he escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in 5-2 victory, he said, "I was out of energy. I always did my stuff, running and working out. Any time I did that, I was like, 'Not today.' The whole game I was fighting mentally." It became a performance issue when Betancourt gave up a home run and a four-pitch walk at Philadelphia on May 30 and was removed. He was on strong antibiotics at the time, and he had been told by a doctor that they were working against his energy level. "Honestly, I didn't know what I was doing," Betancourt said. "I was just throwing the ball to nobody, not the catcher or the hitter." Betancourt pitched in both games of a June 2 doubleheader against the Dodgers. He retired the only hitter he faced in the first game, but had to cover first base on a grounder and struggled to do so. In the nightcap, he gave up a decisive grand slam to Alex Gonzalez. Four days later, he gave up three runs and five hits in one inning against the Marlins. Betancourt demonstrated uncharacteristic frustration, mainly because his physical problems were so foreign to him.