DENVER — One inning after Larry Walker homered, the Reds elected to intentionally walk him, even though it loaded the bases with Todd Helton coming up. Bad move.

        Helton hit a grand slam to go with Walker's three-run shot, powering the Colorado Rockies to a 7-2 victory on Wednesday night.

        “Pick your poison,” Rockies acting manager Toby Harrah said. “Those are two really great hitters.”

        Helton agreed with the strategy, since he has been struggling at the plate in the past month while Walker is the NL's leading hitter at .360.

        “It was a good move for them,” Helton said. “If I was in the other dugout, I would have done it, too. I haven't been swinging the bat that well, and he's been swinging better than anybody in the league. I wasn't surprised (with the intentional walk). I was actually more surprised when I hit the ball.”

        But Helton was quick to add that he felt slighted by the move.

        “I do take it personally,” he said. “Any ballplayer should.”

        Jason Jennings (12-5) went eight innings, limiting the Reds to five hits, including solo home runs by Ken Griffey Jr. and Aaron Boone. He struck out seven.

        Jennings tied the Rockies record for most victories by a rookie pitcher — Armando Reynoso won 12 in the club's inaugural season, 1993.

        “My release point was off, and I panicked a bit in the first two or three innings,” Jennings said. “It seems like when I get more tired, later in the game, I get a better slider, change and sinker, and that was the case tonight.”

        Colorado is the only team in the majors without a complete game, but Harrah said he had no intention of letting Jennings pitch the ninth.

        “His pitch count was getting up there pretty high,” Harrah said. “He had pitched enough, about 115 pitches. And Todd Jones hadn't pitched in a couple of days, so it was good to get him in there.”

        Rockies manager Clint Hurdle, given a two-year contract extension on Wednesday, left Coors Field before the game to be with his wife, Karla, for the birth of their first child.

        Rockies Notes: Rockies OF Larry Walker recorded his 14th outfield assist, tying Montreal's Vladimir Guerrero for the major league lead. In the third, Walker caught Aaron Boone's fly ball near the wall and gunned out Todd Walker, who was slow getting back to first base. ... At 2:22, it was the shortest game of the season at Coors Field. ... RHP Kip Bouknight, the Rockies' 13th-round draft pick in 2001, threw a no-hitter for Class A Salem in a 5-0 win over Frederick on Wednesday night.

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