DENVER (AP) — Cory Luebke took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, Cameron Maybin and Aaron Cunningham homered and the San Diego Padres beat the slumping Colorado Rockies 8-2 Monday night.

Mark Ellis homered for Colorado’s only hit of the game. The Rockies have lost five straight and six of seven.

Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (left hip), first baseman Todd Helton (back) and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez (right wrist) were out of the lineup.

Maybin, Cunningham and Jason Bartlett had two hits each for San Diego, which has won three of four.

The Padres have never thrown a no-hitter in their 43-year history, and 19 times they’ve held an opponent hitless into the eighth. The last time was July 9 when five pitchers held the Los Angeles Dodgers hitless through 8 2-3 innings before Juan Uribe broke it up with a double.

Luebke (6-9) tried to become the first pitcher in franchise history to accomplish the feat. He walked three and retired 12 straight at one point through five innings. He got Chris Nelson to line out to open the sixth before walking Eric Young Jr.

Luebke momentarily preserved the no-hitter in the sixth when he slid to grab Dexter Fowler’s slow roller near the mound and threw out the speedy outfielder at first for the second out of the inning.

One batter later, Ellis ended the no-hit bid with a two-run homer to left-center that made it 8-2.

Luebke was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth. He struck out a career-high nine.

Ernesto Frieri pitched two hitless innings to finish the game.

The Padres jumped on Kevin Millwood (3-3) early. They took a 1-0 lead in the second on three straight singles and made it 3-0 in the fourth on RBI singles by Bartlett and Kyle Blanks.

San Diego broke it open in the fourth and chased Millwood. Jeremy Hermida led off with a walk and scored on Cunningham’s homer to left-center, his second.

One out later, Luebke singled to right and Maybin hit the first pitch he saw into the right-field bleachers for his ninth homer to make it 7-0.

Jim Miller relieved Millwood and got the final two outs of the inning.

Millwood allowed seven runs — six earned — and nine hits. He struck out one.

NOTES: Tulowitzki has missed six straight games and eight of the past 10. Helton has missed six consecutive games and 12 of the past 14. Gonzalez missed his fourth game in a row. … Padres INF Jesus Guzman (sore neck) was not in the lineup. … The Padres will send RHP Matt Latos to the mound against Colorado RHP Jhoulys Chacin in the second game of the series Tuesday.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Read More: Fred Lewis (LF – CIN), Pablo Sandoval (3B – SFG), Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants Pablo Sandoval has hit for the cycle in Thursday’s game against the Colorado Rockies–and he needed just six innings to do it. He hit a two-run home run in the first inning, singled in the second inning, doubled to lead off the fifth inning and then tripled to right field in the sixth inning.

According to Troy Renck of the Denver Post, this was the 10th cycle in Coors Field history and the first by a Giants hitter since 2007 when Fred Lewis did it at Coors Field. This is the 26th cycle hit by a Giants batter and the first of Sandoval’s career.

The Giants control this game, 7-2, but poor defense by Thomas Field and Jordan Pacheco have hurt the Rockies, in particular. Carlos Gonzalez took an awkward hit into the wall on Sandoval’s triple, but he remained in the game for the rest of the inning.

For more on the Rockies, visit Purple Row. Check out McCovey Chronicles and SB Nation Bay Area for more on the Giants.

After an off day, the Colorado Rockies resume their season with a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The last time the Rockies saw the Dodgers was at the end of July in Los Angeles. They escaped LA with a victory in the final contest of the three-game series.

The starter in that game for the Dodgers was Hiroki Kuroda (8-14, 2.88 ERA), who starts Friday’s game in Denver. He was saddled with the loss after allowing one run, a fifth inning RBI single by troy Tulowitzki, in six innings. The Rockies won the contest, 3-1. In his three starts since then, Kuroda has thrown two starts of seven shutout innings, striking out eight and six, respectively. This will be Kuroda’s fourth career start in Coors Field, where he is 0-2 with an 8.27 ERA.

Jason Hammel (7-11, 4.97 ERA) picked up the lone Rockies win against the St. Louis Cardinals last weekend. After allowing 12 runs in nine innings his previous two starts, Hammel held the Cards to one run in 6-plus innings. He had the offense behind him in the 6-1 victory, buoyed by Carlos Gonzalez’s three-run home run in the third inning. Hammel is 1-1 in two starts in Coors Field against the Dodgers this year. He’s allowed seven runs in 12 innings.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. MT.

For more on the Rockies, head over to Purple Row. Visit True Blue LA and SB Nation Los Angeles for more on the Dodgers.

By Russ Oates

– Senior Editor

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Aug 19, 2011 – After an off day, the Colorado Rockies resume their season with a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The last time the Rockies saw the Dodgers was at the end of July in Los Angeles. They escaped LA with a victory in the final contest of the three-game series.

The starter in that game for the Dodgers was Hiroki Kuroda (8-14, 2.88 ERA), who starts Friday’s game in Denver. He was saddled with the loss after allowing one run, a fifth inning RBI single by troy Tulowitzki, in six innings. The Rockies won the contest, 3-1. In his three starts since then, Kuroda has thrown two starts of seven shutout innings, striking out eight and six, respectively. This will be Kuroda’s fourth career start in Coors Field, where he is 0-2 with an 8.27 ERA.

Jason Hammel (7-11, 4.97 ERA) picked up the lone Rockies win against the St. Louis Cardinals last weekend. After allowing 12 runs in nine innings his previous two starts, Hammel held the Cards to one run in 6-plus innings. He had the offense behind him in the 6-1 victory, buoyed by Carlos Gonzalez’s three-run home run in the third inning. Hammel is 1-1 in two starts in Coors Field against the Dodgers this year. He’s allowed seven runs in 12 innings.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. MT.

For more on the Rockies, head over to Purple Row. Visit True Blue LA and SB Nation Los Angeles for more on the Dodgers.

Read More: Jason Hammel (P – COL), Hiroki Kuroda (P – LOS), Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado Rockies, Aug 19, 2011 6:40 PM MDT

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The Rockies’ season hasn’t been one big disappointment so much as several little ones.

Jorge De La Rosa’s season-ending elbow injury. Juan Nicasio’s frightening ordeal on the mound. The eternal search for a key hit in the clutch. They’re all on the list.

At the top of it, though, may be the Rockies’ inability to win at Coors Field, a house of horrors for opponents in 2009 and 2010.

“One thing we haven’t done this year is have a fantastic homestand like we’ve been known to have here over the course of the past couple of years,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. “If I had one wish . . . it would be for one of our real, real good homestands.”

Lo and behold, the Rockies, for one night anyway, rediscovered

that old LoDo magic in Monday’s 7-4 win over the Marlins. Long story short, they were down 4-3 going into the ninth inning before a little luck and a three-run homer by Jason Giambi carried them home.

“I haven’t seen that this year,” Tracy said. “That was terrific to see. That was a breath of fresh air, no question.”

Giambi’s two-out blast, on a slider from former Yankees teammate Randy Choate, came after Dexter Fowler made the turn toward second base after his looping flyball dropped in center field with two outs. Fowler would have been caught in a rundown to potentially end the game, but Marlins first baseman Gaby Sanchez had to lunge for a throw from third baseman Greg Dobbs, allowing Fowler to advance to second.

Moments later, Carlos Gonzalez doubled home the tying run off Leo Nuñez. And after an intentional walk to Troy Tulowitzki, Giambi unloaded his 11th homer — and his team-leading fourth three-run shot of the season.

“Giambi is the guy you want up there,” said Chris Nelson, who had three hits and reached base four times. “He’s done it time after time for us. It’s like I hit the home run, I was so excited.”

Giambi? He was more tired than excited. He had just come off

the disabled list Friday and hadn’t started at first base in almost a month. But with the Rockies’ charter arriving in Denver at 2 a.m. after a Sunday night game in St. Louis, Todd Helton was given the night off.

“I was exhausted,” said Giambi. “I was thinking to myself, ‘God, I’ve got to get a hit right here or Todd has to come in the game and it’s going to be a 20-inning game.’ I’m just excited to help the ballclub out. We finally pushed through.”

For the longest while, it looked like the Rockies would lose another tight game because of their inability to produce in the clutch. They were 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position before the ninth, striking out with runners in scoring position to end the fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth innings.

But no. The Rockies are 29-31 at Coors Field, where they’ve had two winning homestands out of nine — none since June 9-19. But they rediscovered their mojo on this night.

“I was thinking, ‘Here we go again,’ ” Giambi said. “It was starting to play out like the frustrating Rox show all year where we were right there in the game and had plenty of chances to tie it or break it open.

“It’s exciting to finally break through and win one.”

Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com

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Looking ahead

TUESDAY: Marlins at Rockies, 6:40 p.m., Root

Yes, he has been erratic at times,

but Jhoulys Chacin (9-9, 3.39 ERA) should be well into double-digit wins by now. He leads the National League with a .207 opponents’ batting average. Pencil him in as the Rockies’ opening-day starter in 2012. Anibal Sanchez (6-6, 4.00) is your basic Rockies killer, with a 2-0, 1.74 career mark against them. He flirted with a no-hitter against them April 22, finishing with a one-hitter. Now for the fine print: He’s 0-2, 7.80 in his last three road starts, has gone a career-worst 10 straight starts without a win and will be making his first-ever appearance at Coors Field.

Jim Armstrong, The Denver Post

Upcoming pitching matchups

Wednesday: Marlins’ Ricky Nolasco (9-8, 3.72 ERA) at Rockies’ Aaron Cook (2-7, 5.43), 6:40 p.m., Root

Thursday: Off

Friday: Dodgers’ Hiroki Kuroda (8-14, 2.88) at Rockies’ Jason Hammel (7-11, 4.97), 6:40 p.m., Root

Saturday: Dodgers’ Ted Lilly (7-13, 4.54) at Rockies’ Esmil Rogers (6-2, 6.00), 2:10 p.m.