Blue Jays fall apart in loss to Rockies

Troy Tulowitzki's return to Colorado got off to a rousing start with a warm welcome from the crowd. Even though he had a quiet night at the plate the former Rockies star said he will long remember the reception from the fans.

Carlos Gonzalez homered, Jon Gray tossed seven solid innings and the Rockies beat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-5 on Monday night to spoil Tulowitzki's homecoming.

Tulowitzki went 0 for 4 in his first game at Coors Field since Toronto acquired him from the Rockies last July 27. He received a standing ovation when he batted in the second inning. He stepped out of the batter's box and doffed his helmet to the 36,491 fans.

"It was a cool moment for me. Brought back a lot of memories," Tulowitzki said. "It was great to see the fans react in that way. Definitely exciting.

"When I was here, I had a good relationship with the fans — the whole Tulo chant thing and I remember seeing a lot of jerseys. I knew they were going to be good to me."

Encarnacion stays hot

Edwin Encarnacion homered twice and Devon Travis also went deep for the Blue Jays, who lost their seventh straight at Coors Field.

Gray retired 12 straight and 16 of 17 batters after Travis' homer in the first inning made it 1-0. The Blue Jays made it 4-0 in the third on Josh Donaldson's RBI single and Encarnacion's first homer.

Grey (5-3) settled down to pitch the seventh. He allowed four runs and five hits and struck out eight.

Toronto starter Marco Estrada had allowed three hits before Gonzalez's three-run homer in the sixth — his 17th — made it a one-run game. It was his 189th home run with Colorado, moving him past Tulowitzki for fifth on the franchise list.

The Rockies scored six runs in the seventh off three relievers. Drew Storen (1-3) hit two straight batters ahead of Nolan Arenado's two-run single, Jesse Chavez walked Mark Reynolds with the bases loaded and Daniel Descalso followed with a single to drive in two more.

Brandon Barnes' RBI double, his second hit of the inning, made it 9-4. Encarnacion hit his 21st homer to lead off the ninth.

"It was just one of those things where I hit those guys," Storen said. "I kind of tried to get in a little too much, tried to throw a little too hard and I kind of yanked it. I kind of missed my location on a couple of other pitches and that was pretty much it. You're not going to find much success late in the game if you're doing that."

Storen added, "It's not an ideal situation tonight but I'll be ready for tomorrow."