DENVER – Craig Counsell hit his first homer since last July and Brian Bruney converted a rare save opportunity Sunday to help the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Counsell took a 3-2 pitch from Jason Jennings (1-5) over the wall in right-center field with one out in the seventh for a 4-3 lead. Alex Cintron had an RBI double, one of his two hits, to make it 5-3 in the eighth.

Preston Wilson hit an RBI double with one out in the eighth to pull the Rockies within one, but Mike Koplove retired the next two batters to get out of the inning.

Bruney allowed a walk and a single in the ninth but retired Clint Barmes and Aaron Miles to earn his second save in three tries this season. He closed in place of Brandon Lyon, who has 13 saves and is tied for the major league lead with Pittsburgh’s Jose Mesa, but has worked a lot recently and was given another day off by manager Bob Melvin.

Shawn Estes (4-3) allowed three runs and six hits over six innings to earn his second win this year against his old team. Last year, Estes went 15-8 for the Rockies, the fourth-best win total in franchise history.

Trailing 3-1, Arizona tied it in the sixth off an RBI groundout from Cintron and an RBI double from former Rockies shortstop Royce Clayton, who had two hits.

Both runners who scored reached base off walks from Jennings, who finished with three. Those, plus another walk by reliever Jose Acevedo, lifted Colorado’s major league-worst total to 180. The Rockies fell to 10-25.

Jennings was seeking to become the winningest pitcher at Coors Field, but he remained tied with Pedro Astacio at 24. Jennings threw 6 1-3 innings, allowing six hits and four runs. His ERA shrunk slightly, to 6.19.

Jennings left after allowing Counsell, an eight-year veteran, to hit his 19th career homer. The second baseman was pulled Saturday night after being hit on the knee by a pitch, but returned a day later and showed no ill effects.

Rockies rookie Garrett Atkins hit his second homer in the third to tie it at 1. Wilson had three hits for Colorado, including a leadoff double in the sixth. But Estes retired the next three batters, Matt Holliday, Dustin Mohr and Todd Greene, to get out of the inning.

Lance Cormier relieved him and held Colorado without a run through the seventh to make it 18 straight scoreless innings to start the season, tying the team record set by Curt Schilling in 2002. The streak ended in the eighth when Wilson doubled off Koplove to score a run charged to Cormier.

Notes: Todd Helton played in his 1,170th game with the Rockies, tying the franchise record held by Larry Walker. … Helton was credited with a sacrifice bunt in the fourth, just the third of his career and his first since Aug. 23, 2001. … Diamondbacks 3B Troy Glaus sat out after having a cortisone injection in his knee Saturday.

AP-ES-05-15-05 1759EDT