The Colorado Rockies rallied for two runs in the seventh inning to post their ninth consecutive victory in a 2-1 decision over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night at Coors Field.

The win allowed Colorado (78-64) to stay within 3 ½ games of San Diego in the National Leagie West and 3 ½ games of wild-card leaders Philadelphia and Atlanta.

Arizona starter Rodrigo Lopez, who entered 0-6 with a 6.96 ERA in his last 10 starts and hadn’t won since July 8, out-pitched Cy Young candidate Ubaldo Jimenez, but still took the loss.

Lopez (5-14) cruised into the seventh before yielding three consecutive hits. Melvin Mora started the Colorado rally with a one-out single, Ryan Spilborghs followed with a double to deep right field and Miguel Olivo tied the game at 1-1 with a base hit to left.

Veteran left-hander Mike Hampton replaced Lopez, but Jonathan Herrera delivered a sacrifice fly to center field to plate the go-ahead run.

Jimenez, whose 18 wins were tied for the National League lead with Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies and Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals, pitched well but wasn’t involved in the decision. The right-hander surrendered just one run and six hits with a walk and eight strikeouts in six innings but left trailing 1-0.

Matt Reynolds (1-0) worked the seventh and picked up the win. Rafael Betancourt pitched an overpowering eighth and Huston Street closed out Arizona in the ninth for his 18th save of the season.