DENVER -- Michael McKenry's two-run homer and strong work by the Colorado bullpen enabled the Rockies to overcome a poor start by Jorge De La Rosa and beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 on Thursday.

The victory gave the Rockies a split of the four-game series and was just their fourth win in 19 games.

The Phillies, who were trying to win back-to-back series for the first time since Sept. 1-7, 2014, lost for only the second time in nine games.

McKenry's winning homer came in the fifth inning against Phillies starter Jerome Williams (3-4) with the score tied at 3. It followed Ben Paulsen's one-out single and was McKenry's first home run since Sept. 27.

McKenry had never faced Williams but benefited from drawing walks in his first two plate appearances.

"That always helps, especially not being an everyday player," McKenry said. "Being able to see all his pitches always helps."

Williams was 2-1 with a 3.80 ERA in four April starts but 0-3 with a 7.40 ERA in five starts this month.

"It seems he has been pitching behind in the count, not working ahead," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said, "trying too be too fine along the corners and falling behind. That's resulted in some walks and some good hitting counts with hitters. He has to be a command guy, but he also has to pitch ahead in the count."

Colorado left fielder Brandon Barnes, who was recalled Wednesday from Triple-A Albuquerque, went 4-for-4 with a double, one RBI and one run. The latter came in the seventh when the Rockies scored twice to build a four-run lead.

"When I was down there (in the minors), it was tough," said Barnes, who hit .205 at Albuquerque with five homers and 12 RBIs. "I was torn between being fully invested there, talking to my guys here. But I had to go down there, had to grind it out.

"I didn't have great numbers, but at the end of the day, I wasn't worried about my numbers. I was about getting myself ready for this opportunity."

Five Rockies relievers combined to pitch 4 2/3 scoreless innings, limiting the Phillies to two hits. In the past nine games, the Rockies' bullpen has a 1.66 ERA (seven earned runs in 38 innings).

"Everybody's doing a great job throwing strikes and getting us out of big situations and picking up starters," said reliever Christian Bergman, who took over for De La Rosa. "If they're not going deep in the games, that's kind of our job."

De La Rosa was coming off his best outing of the year -- 7 1/3 scoreless innings and two hits on Saturday at Los Angeles. He threw 100 pitches through four innings but took the mound in the fifth with a 3-1 lead and needing three outs to qualify for the win.

Manager Walt Weiss said he sent De La Rosa out in the fifth to get the three outs and because the left-handed De La Rosa would face left-handed hitters Chase Utley and Ryan Howard.

Utley led off with a triple into the gap in left-center field and scored on left fielder Darin Ruf's sacrifice fly. Howard tied the score at 3 with his ninth homer and second in two games, an opposite-field drive to left center on De La Rosa's 108th and last pitch.

"That was a bad outing for me," De La Rosa said. "I'm glad we won. That's the most important thing. They say when you can't throwo strikes, you're going to make a lot of mistakes. That happened today."

Pitching for the first time since May 13, Bergman (2-0) retired the two batters he faced. Bergman threw just 11 pitches, making him the likely starter in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against San Francisco.

After Scott Oberg worked 1 1/3 innings, Boone Logan came on for the Rockies. He gave up a two-out double to Ruf in the seventh but struck out Howard.

Williams walked one batter and hit another in the third inning, setting up a bases-loaded situation for shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who singled home two runs. Another walk loaded the bases with two outs for Barnes, who singled in a run, giving the Rockies a 3-1 lead.

The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on Ruf's single. Rockies third baseman Daniel Descalso jumped for the ball, but it went off his glove. Shortstop Freddy Galvis led off the inning with a single, stole second and moved to third on Paulsen's error at first base.

NOTES: Jorge De La Rosa's five strikeouts gave him a Rockies franchise record 774, one more than Ubaldo Jimenez, now with Baltimore. ... Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado, who had one hit in his past 15 at-bats with six strikeouts, was not in the lineup after starting 23 straight games. He pinch hit in the seventh inning, singled home a run and stayed in the game. ... Rockies 1B Justin Morneau is not ready to be activated Friday when he is eligible to come off the seven-day concussion list.