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Bucs lose; Colorado sweeps series

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Pirates starting pitcher Jeff Locke works against the Rockies in the first inning of Sunday’s game in Denver.

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Pirates manager Clint Hurdle looks on against the Rockies in the first inning of Sunday’s game.

DENVER – After losing an early lead and another game at Coors Field, the Pittsburgh Pirates were ready for a break.

The NL Central leaders got swept in a three-game series, beaten by the Colorado Rockies 3-2 Sunday.

The Pirates hold a three-game edge in the division over the Cardinals, and begin a three-game series at St. Louis Tuesday night.

But before playing at Busch Stadium, an off-day for the Bucs.

“It will be a day for everybody to unplug, just kind of get away from it for a day,” said Pirates starter Jeff Locke, who pitched 5 2-3 effective innings and rebounded from three sub-par starts.

“Not that anybody feels like they need to or anything like that. We’ve played some good baseball here, but not the kind of baseball that we’re accustomed to playing right now,” he said. “But every team goes through things like this. If it was seven, eight games and not three, it’d be a lot different story.”

Nolan Arenado doubled home the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh off Bryan Morris (5-5). The hit drove in Wilin Rosario, who singled ahead of Arenado.

Pedro Alvarez homered for the Pirates, who came to Coors Field this weekend with a five-game winning streak.

The Rockies last swept a series April 16-18 against the Mets on their way to a 13-4 start. They have struggled the last two months to fall from the top of the NL West to out of the playoff race.

“At the end of the day, you look at the three games, they pitched better than us, they hit better than us, they fielded better than us,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “So you just move on. You honestly self-evaluate and move on and get ready to play in St. Louis.”

The Pirates were last swept in a series on June 3-5 against the Braves.

Matt Belisle pitched a perfect eighth before giving way to Rex Brothers, who worked a shaky ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances as he pitched for the third straight day.

The Pirates loaded the bases with a single, double and intentional walk before Brothers got Alex Presley to pop out to third to end the game.

Alvarez showed no ill effects from taking a spike to his mitt from Dexter Fowler on Saturday. Alvarez hit the first pitch he saw from rookie Chad Bettis, who pitched six innings in his third major league start and Coors Field debut, to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

It was Alvarez’s NL-leading 28th home run of the season. Manuel Corpas (1-2) pitched a scoreless seventh to get the victory.

Andrew McCutchen drove in Clint Barmes with an infield single in the third to make it 2-0.

The Rockies made it 2-1 in bottom of the inning when Charlie Blackmon scored on a sacrifice fly by DJ LeMahieu. They tied it in the sixth when Yorvit Torrealba scored on Alvarez’s throwing error at third base.

The error spoiled a solid outing and took a potential win away from Locke. The lefty allowed two runs – one earned – on three hits, struck out three and walked four in . He left after Blackmon’s infield single that put runners at first and second with two outs.

Locke, who took the mound with a major-league leading 1.83 road ERA, had gone 0-1 with a 4.96 ERA in his past three starts, allowing 27 hits in 16 1-3 innings.

“Today was definitely a step back in the right direction mechanically, mentally,” said Locke, who is 9-3 with a 2.43 ERA in 23 starts. “Everything felt back to normal today.”

Rockies OF Michael Cuddyer did not play because of illness. … Pirates LF Starling Marte was not in the lineup after getting hit with a pitch and having a bruised left hand. He came in as a pinch runner in the top of the ninth. … With the Pirates off today, rookie RHP Gerrit Cole will have his next start pushed back to Friday against Arizona as the Pirates monitor his innings. … Pirates RHP Charlie Morton (4-3) will start the opener of the series in St. Louis.

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