PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Shawn Chacon looks like a different pitcher this season. The Arizona Diamondbacks look like a different team in 2003.
Chacon worked seven-plus strong innings and also helped himself at the plate with his first career homer as the Colorado Rockies rolled to a 12-1 rout of the Diamondbacks in a game that featured a benches-clearing incident.
Just 11-21 with a 5.35 ERA in his first two major league seasons, Chacon (2-0) remained unbeaten in 2003 by defeating the Diamondbacks for the second time this month. The 25-year-old righthander allowed an unearned run and four hits, walking one and striking out two as he lowered his ERA to 1.31 on the season.
"I feel good with the start I had," Chacon said. "I am not going to get too excited because this game has a funny way of humbling you in a second. I just want to be as consistent as possible. I have confidence in all my stuff and it is working for me, and I am making my pitches when I need to. I am not letting my emotions get the best of me."
In a victory over Arizona on April 4, Chacon gave up just one hit in seven innings, a solo homer to Steve Finley.
Chacon also provided some punch with the bat, hitting a solo homer off John Patterson (0-1) in the second inning to give the Rockies a 4-0 lead.
While Chacon has started strong, the two-time defending National League West champion Diamondbacks continued to flounder as they fell to a woeful 3-11 on the season. They have been held to two runs or less in six of the defeats.
The Diamondbacks also showed their frustration when outfielder Danny Bautista was ejected in the third inning after getting hit in the shoulder with a pitch. As he was making his way to first base, Bautista exchanged words with Chacon and made a gesture with his bat, leading to his ejection and forcing both benches to empty. There were no other ejections.
Patterson, who started the season in the minor leagues, was roughed up for five runs and five hits in four innings.
Ron Belliard matched a career high with four hits and knocked in two runs for Colorado, which improved to 5-0 against Arizona this season.
Patterson retired the first two batters in the opening inning before walking Todd Helton and Larry Walker. Preston Wilson made him pay for those miscues by lacing a grounds-rule double into left-center field.
Jose Hernandez followed by extending his hitting streak to 10 games with a two-run single.
"I started the way I wanted to start, mechanically was good and I was throwing the ball where I wanted," Patterson said. "I walked Helton, walked Walker, and got kind of erratic after that. Then I got behind in the count for the most part. I made some pitches and they were jumping on it."
"I don't know if he (Patterson) came unglued, but it is not unusual for Todd Helton to have a good at-bat against anybody and he has done that a lot," Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly said. "It seemed in the early going that he had a hard time locating his breaking ball and when he is not getting that pitch over, he becomes susceptible. They sat on some fastballs and whacked him."
Chacon extended the lead in the second, sending a first-pitch fastball from Patterson over the left field wall.
"First-pitch fastball, I was trying to swing hard and got lucky," Chacon said. "I ran into one."
Chacon also was in control on the mound. He stranded two runners in scoring position in the second by retiring rookie Robby Hammock on a grounder to second base.
In the third, the Diamondbacks produced a run without a hit. Patterson reached on an error by first baseman Helton and he eventually scored on a groundout by Luis Gonazlez.
Chacon showed his mettle by not letting the incident with Bautista affect him. He got Finley to ground out to end the third and allowed just three hits before running into trouble in the eighth.
"I didn't get overly excited about anything," Chacon said. "I thought about it for a second. I didn't hit him on purpose and he ought to know I didn't hit him on purpose. The count was 1-2. The biggest thing was when he acted like he was going to throw the bat at me, that got my attention. When I hit him, I was mad at myself and I was walking towards the umpires to get the ball and he was staring at me saying whatever in Spanish. I didn't understand him anyway."
"He continues to show some maturity," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "He held his ground out there. Then he held his ground and went out there and pitched. He pitched well, very, very well. He has made a statement and is very focused."
Chris Richard led off the fourth with his first homer of the season and the Rockies scored seven times in the ninth off the Diamondbacks' bullpen. Walker and Belliard highlighted the inning with two-run doubles.
