PHILADELPHIA -- Colorado Rockies right-hander Chad Bettis just wanted to build on his previous start Friday night.

In the process, he almost became the second Rockie to pitch a no-hitter.

Bettis, who worked six perfect innings and 7 1/3 hitless innings, wound up combining with John Axford on a two-hitter as the Rockies beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1.

"He's coming off his best outing, and he topped even that one," manager Walt Weiss said, referring to an 11-2 victory over San Francisco on May 24.

Bettis (2-0) went 8 1/3 innings in that one, becoming the first Rockies starter to work into the ninth this season, and allowed two runs and six hits. That was in the back of his mind when he took the mound Friday.

"I wanted to keep going forward and keep pushing it into this game," he said.

The 26-year-old Bettis, making just his fourth start since his recall from the minors on May 14, did not allow a hit until Phillies left fielder Cody Asche grounded a single to left field with one out in the eighth.

One out later, Philadelphia catcher Carlos Ruiz blooped a single to right, putting runners at first and third. Bettis, protecting a 2-0 lead, struck out pinch-hitter Darin Ruf to end the threat.

Axford allowed an unearned run in the ninth when left fielder Brandon Barnes dropped a one-out fly ball by Philadelphia second baseman Chase Utley, allowing right fielder Ben Revere to score from second. Axford set down the last two hitters to close it out.

Ubaldo Jimenez remains the only Colorado pitcher with a no-hitter, beating Atlanta 4-0 on April 17, 2010.

Bettis, who struck out seven without issuing a walk, retired the first 18 hitters he faced. He also had some help, notably from Barnes, who opened the game in center field. He made a leaping catch of Ryan Howard's blast to the wall in the fifth. Charlie Blackmon, who later replaced Barnes in center, also made a diving catch of a liner by Freddy Galvis for the first out in the seventh.

Revere became the first Phillie to reach when he led off the seventh by lining a ball off the pitcher's glove that trickled in the direction of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki behind second base. He was unable to field the ball cleanly and was charged with an error.

With one out in the eighth, the left-handed-hitting Asche, recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley earlier in the day, batted against a defensive overshift featuring three fielders on the right side of the infield. He slapped Bettis' 1-0 offering through the left side where the shortstop normally plays.

"Initially I thought it was right at Tulo, and I was like, 'Perfect, here we go,' " Bettis said. "Then I turned around and I looked, and I was like, 'Oh man.' There's not anything you can do about that. They had some really hard-hit balls right at people. … That's baseball."

Asche said it was "probably the biggest shift" he has seen all year.

"I was trying to (hit it to the left side) all night," he said.

Tulowitzki went 4-for-4 with two solo homers for Colorado, which has won five of six. First baseman Ben Paulsen hit a two-run homer off reliever Luis Garcia in the ninth for the Rockies.

The Phillies dropped their fifth straight and their eighth in nine games.

Philadelphia starter Cole Hamels (5-4) saw a four-game winning streak end despite going eight innings and giving up two runs and five hits. He struck out nine, walked one and allowed both homers to Tulowitzki, the first Hamels has surrendered in his last five starts.

"He couldn't get the ball down to Tulo," manager Ryne Sandberg said, "but he rises to the occasion, like he did tonight."

It's just that Bettis was even better.

"We had a hard time with his changeup," Sandberg said, "and his off-speed stuff was exceptional."

Tulowitzki homered on two fastballs from Hamels, an 0-1