Hammonds, Reds Blast Rockies

This was ridiculous even by Coors Field standards.

Jeffrey Hammonds had his first career three-homer game and Sean Casey added two homers and a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Colorado Rockies 24-12 Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.

The outburst was Cincinnati's biggest since scoring a team-record 26 runs against the Boston Braves on June 4, 1911.

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"It was unbelievable," Rockies reliever Chuck McElroy said. "It seemed like everything you'd throw up there high, low, inside, outside it was hit. Casey hit a ball at his chin. You could roll the ball up there and they were hitting it."

The Reds, who won their fifth straight, scored in six of the first seven innings, batted around four times and matched a 97-year-old team record with 28 hits. Cincinnati also had 28 hits vs. Philadelphia on May 13, 1902.

"It was batting practice for both clubs," Reds manager Jack McKeon said. "We had a football score here."

Cincinnati fell two runs shy of the Coors Field record of 26 runs by the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 18, 1995, but the two teams topped the combined record of 33 runs in that same game.

"I was wondering how many days are like that here," said Casey, who went 8-for-15 in the series. "The ball was jumping. Not only was it jumping, but guys were hitting the ball everywhere. It's pretty amazing."

Hammonds, who entered the game hitting .132 with no homers, went 4-for-6 with a career-best five RBIs and scored five times. It was the fifth multihomer game of his career.

"I've been waiting for this day all year," he said. "Over the last week, I started seeing the ball a lot better, but you can never say you're going to hit the ball the way we did today."

Casey went 4-for-4, walked three times and scored five runs in his first career two-homer game. Four other Reds had three hits as Cincinnati wasted an early 6-0 lead before pulling away for their first sweep in Colorado.

Hammonds had been 1-for-25 in eight games as a starter. He hit a solo homer in the first and dded two-run shots in the fourth and sixth. His final homer gave the Reds an 18-9 lead and marked the fifth three-homer game in the majors this season.

"He outdid me today," Casey said. "I was trying to hang around with him, but he outdid me. It was nice to see Hammer come through with three big ones. Maybe it will get him rolling."

Steve Parris (2-0) pitched 3 1-3 innings in relief of Denny Neagle, who didn't make it out of the second. It was his shortest start since retiring only one Houston hitter on July 15, 1994.

The series was similar to last April when the Reds scored 44 runs to take three of four at Coors Field. Cincinnati scored 36 runs in the three games to move one game over .500 for the first time since last May.

"They're on a roll," McElroy said. "That's the kind of roll we need to be on."

Colorado's Larry Walker had four hits to raise his average to .431 and extend his hitting streak to 20 games. He is three games from tying Dante Bichette's team record of 23 straight in 1995.

Bichette had four hits and five RBIs, including a two-run homer that pulled the Rockies to 11-9 in the fourth.

That was as close as Colorado would get as Cincinnati chased reliever Jerry Dipoto (0-2) with two runs in the fifth. They added five in the sixth and six more in the seventh.

The pounding left Rockies manager Jim Leyland in a fatalistic mood.

"In a park like this, things can get out of hand," he said.

Notes: Colorado SS Neifi Perez was scratched because of a strained left wrist. ... Reds reliever Mark Wohlers, who is trying to regain control of his pitches, is scheduled to throw live batting practice Friday. ... The last time Cincinnati swept a series from the Rockies was August 1993 Colorado's inaugural season. ... Neagle has allowed at least four runs in each of his six starts. ... Casey's first-inning homer was the 1000th at Coors Field. ... Bichette improved to 20-for-41 (.488) against Neagle. ... Casey has reached base in eight straight plate appearances. ... It was the most hits allowed by the Rockies in their history, topping the 27 by the Cubs in 1995. ... The teams set a major league record with 81 combined total bases. The old record was 79 by St. Louis and Philadelphia on May 11, 1923. ... Mike Piazza and Mike Lansing also have hit three homers in a game at Coors Field.

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