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Phillies dumped in Denver; Morgan demoted after yielding 3 homers

DENVER - Adam Morgan's start Thursday night was his first in two weeks. The 11-2 loss to Colorado will likely be his last for a while.

DENVER - Adam Morgan's start Thursday night was his first in two weeks. The 11-2 loss to Colorado will likely be his last for a while.

Morgan - who has a habit of yielding home runs - was no match for hitter-friendly Coors Field on a hot summer night when the ball flew. He allowed six earned runs in five innings and was tagged for three homers. The lefthander is tied with Jeremy Hellickson for the team lead in home runs allowed (16), even though he has started six fewer games.

After the game, the Phillies optioned Morgan to triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Manager Pete Mackanin said Morgan would join the triple-A starting rotation.

"Sometimes when you try too hard, it can be ineffective," Mackanin said. "You're trying so hard to make good pitches. It's all about location. Movement and location. Velocity, to me, comes in third. We've seen plenty of guys that throw 95 plus get knocked around pretty well because they don't locate. He's just throwing too many pitches out over the plate, up in the zone. That's basically what he's doing."

"It was a good conversation," Morgan said after he emerged from the manager's office, where he was told he was going to triple A. "They shot me straight, which is all that you can ask for as a player. It was good. It was the truth and I needed to hear it. My point of view right now, is that I can only go up from here. I've been making a lot of mistakes and I haven't been making excuses. I just work to get better."

Morgan filled in for Aaron Nola, who had the day off because the team wants to give Nola an extended all-star break to clear his head. The ballpark's altitude - rows in the upper deck are painted purple to signify their mile-high distance above sea level - combined with the 87-degree temperature at first pitch seemed to be a recipe for a home run barrage.

The Rockies wasted little time, scoring a run off Morgan in the first inning before Mark Reynolds homered in the second. Trevor Story, who is campaigning to win the All-Star Game's final vote, blasted a three-run homer to left in the third. The ball traveled 430 feet before crashing off the last row of the left-field seats and bouncing into the concourse. Story was not finished as he ripped a line-drive homer to left-center in the fifth to deliver the final blow to Morgan.

Morgan has a 6.89 ERA in 12 starts this season. He spent two weeks before Thursday night in the bullpen after being bumped from the starting rotation when Vince Velasquez was activated from the disabled list. Morgan is unable to pitch in relief for the final three games before the all-star break, which pushed him to triple A so righthanded reliever Andrew Bailey could be activated from the disabled list and join the team Friday.

The Phillies bullpen is already taxed. Mackanin was forced to use three relievers to finish off Thursday's game. David Hernandez pitched a scoreless inning before Edubray Ramos yielded five runs, one of which scored against Brett Oberholtzer.

The Phillies will have to move another player before Sunday's game, when lefthanded reliever Daniel Stumpf returns from suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. Righthanded reliever Severino Gonzalez appears to be the likely candidate to clear space for Stumpf.

Ryan Howard homered in the second inning to tie the score at 1 as the Phillies looked as if they would be able to match the Rockies homer for homer. It was Howard's 10th career homer at Coors Field. His homer rate at the ballpark - one every 3.4 games - is his fourth-highest rate in active ballparks in which he has played at least 30 games. It was also the 369th homer of his career, tying him with Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner and likely future Hall of Famer Todd Helton for 78th on baseball's all-time list.

The tie proved to be short-lived, as Morgan gave up a go-ahead homer to Reynolds, the first batter he faced in the second inning. Morgan turned and watched as the ball traveled to right field, knowing it was gone. Howard jogged in from first for a brief chat as Morgan's night was beginning to unravel.

mbreen@phillynews.com

@matt_breen