DENVER -- When Chad Bettis starts for the Colorado Rockies, the odds are good that they will win.

It has been that way this season for nearly three months, including one final time Friday night when Bettis pitched into the seventh and the Rockies beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-1.

Bettis (14-8) finished his exemplary season with career-highs in wins, innings (186), starts (32) and strikeouts (138).

The Rockies won 16 of Bettis' 20 starts since June 9, including his final 10 at Coors Field. During that 20-start stretch, Bettis was 10-3 with a 4.32 ERA. The Rockies went 21-11 in Bettis' starts this season.

"There were a couple things I wanted to accomplish and one of them was stay healthy all year and make every start," Bettis said. "But there's a lot more work to do to take a step forward and got to keep moving forward."

He worked 6 2/3 innings and left with a runner at third base. Carlos Estevez came on and struck out cleanup hitter Chris Carter, who had hit his 40th homer in the fourth. After Estevez worked 1 1/3 hitless innings, Adam Ottavino retired the side in order in the ninth and earned his seventh save.

The Rockies bunched their four runs into the first three innings. Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer in the first, keeping him atop the National League with 41 homers. He is one homer shy of the career-high 42 he hit last year.

"I wasn't trying to hit any more homers, I was just trying to hit it hard," Arenado said. "Definitely when (Carter) hit his homer, I realized he was one behind me now. He's a great hitter and he's had an unbelievable year. He's got a lot of power. He barely touched that ball and it went flying. The competition is fun, and that's just the way it goes. I feel like every time I hit a homer, the other guys does. Last year when I hit 42, (Bryce) Harper hit (his 42nd) the day after. It's always fun. That's what makes this game good."

Carter, who has reached career-highs in RBIs (93) and homers, said of his milestone homer, "It's definitely nice, it's a place I've never been. In (2014 with Houston) I ended up with 37 and couldn't make it to it."

Charlie Blackmon singled home a run in the second, giving him 80 RBIs. He is the eighth player in NL history to drive in 80 runs from the leadoff spot.

After Arenado doubled to open the fourth, Nick Hundley brought him home with a single off Brent Suter (2-2). Making a spot start after 12 consecutive scoreless relief appearances, Suter threw 86 pitches in five innings and allowed 10 hits with no walks and three strikeouts.

The Rockies' defense saved a run in the sixth after Carter led off with a double. Third baseman Arenado made a diving backhanded stop of Domingo Santana's hard smash and threw from his knees to get him at first.

Hernan Perez followed with a single, and Carter tried to rumble home from second but was thrown out by left fielder David Dahl. After Orlando Arcia singled, the Brewers pulled off a double steal and loaded the bases when Bettis walked Martin Madonado.

But Bettis threw a called third strike past pinch hitter Josmil Pinto to end the inning.

"It was just all about executing my pitch at that point in time and not moving too fast," Bettis said. "I think that's something I've been working on and was able to slow myself down a little bit and really concentrate on just making one pitch at a time"

Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu went 0-for-2 and was removed from the game in the fourth. With a .348 average, LeMahieu won't play in the final two games of the season unless Washington's Daniel Murphy gets a hit.

LeMahieu is one point ahead of Murphy in the NL batting race. Murphy has a strained buttocks and last appeared on Sept. 20 as a pinch-hitter. LeMahieu is 192-for-552 (.3478). Murphy is 184-for-530 (.3471).

"It's probably the least amount of fun I've had all season, this week," LeMahieu said. "Part of me wants to be out there competing, doing what I've been doing all year. The other part of me --_there's something really special out there and I'm going to let (manager) Walt (Weiss) take care of that."

NOTES: Rockies RHP Jeff Hoffman will start Saturday in place of LHP Tyler Anderson, who was scratched because of some general arm soreness. Hoffman has made two relief appearances since his last start on Sept. 14. ... Rockies OF/1B Gerardo Parra is wearing a walking boot and done for the year. He aggravated the high left ankle sprain he suffered June 14 that put him on the disabled list for nearly eight weeks.. ... Brewers OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who is from the Denver area, has not played since Sept. 16 because of what was called an abdominal strain. The diagnosis was changed to a sports hernia that will require surgery. He is done for the year. ... Brewers 3B Jonathan Villar needs one homer to become the fourth player in major league history with 20 homers and 60 stolen bases in a season. ... Brewers 1B Chris Carter and Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado are tied for the NL lead with 158 games played.