DENVER -- Nolan Arenado thought he missed his chance on the first offering from Michael Wacha. When the right-hander left the next pitch up, the third baseman jumped on it.

Arenado's two-run homer sparked Colorado's offense and the Rockies rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Jorge De La Rosa tossed seven strong innings to tie Aaron Cook for the most wins in franchise history and second DJ LeMahieu had three hits in the game, including a tiebreaking double in the seventh that helped Colorado win after a 1-hour, 7-minute rain delay.

Shortstop Jhonny Peralta and center fielder Peter Bourjos homered for St. Louis (38-21). Wacha (8-2) allowed four runs on eight hits tied a career high with 10 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.

It was Wacha's first loss on the road this season, and it came in a game where he was sharp.

"I felt good the whole night," the starter said. "I just left some pitches over the middle of the plate and they didn't miss them. I've got to do a better job of making better pitches in those situations."

De La Rosa (3-2) allowed two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out eight to win his second consecutive start. He now has 72 career wins with the Rockies, tying him with Cook atop the franchise list.

"It feels really good to be there to be No. 1 right tied now with Aaron Cook," De La Rosa said. "He was a really good pitcher for this franchise and I'm glad to be there."

Closer John Axford pitched a scoreless ninth for his 11th save.

Wacha used his changeup to keep Colorado's hitters off balance and rack up the most strikeouts since April 23, 2014, against the New York Mets. He was on his way to his seventh road win after Peralta's 10th homer -- which went off the facing of the second deck in right field above the Rockies bullpen -- gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead in the sixth.

However, in the bottom of the inning, Arenado followed left fielder Carlos Gonzalez's single with a home run on an 0-1 to deep left field to tie it at 2-all. It was the third baseman's 15th of the season.

"The first pitch he threw me inside and I thought that was the pitch to hit," Arenado said. "The next one was up in the zone and I was able to get on top of it. It's not where he wanted to throw but he was able to take advantage."

The homer gave the Colorado bench some life.

"It didn't feel like we were getting to Wacha at all until Nolan came up with a big hit," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said.

The Rockies (27-30) took the lead in the seventh. Pinch hitter Wilin Rosario singled with one out and scored on a double by LeMahieu. Wacha intentionally walked shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, and Gonzalez followed with an RBI single to left off reliever Randy Choate.

Bourjos homered off lefty Boone Logan to lead off the eighth to cut the deficit to a run. The Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs, but reliever Scott Oberg got catcher Yadier Molina to fly out to end the threat.

"Two on nobody out, and opportunity to create some damage," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "That's a big spot for us. Those are the ones we've got to get the big hits."

St. Louis managed just a pair of walks by first baseman Mark Reynolds in the first four innings before getting to De La Rosa in the fifth. Right fielder Randal Grichuk, who led off with a single, was caught in a rundown that allowed left fielder Jon Jay to get to second. Jay scored on Bourjos' single up the middle for the first run of the game.

De La Rosa got out of the inning when he retired Wacha on a grounder. During the at-bat, a Rockies trainer came out to look at De La Rosa's pitching hand. The lefty, bothered by a swollen finger in his past few starts, stayed in the game.

NOTES: The Cardinals placed LF Matt Holliday on the 15-day disabled list after an MRI revealed a Grade 2 strain