ST. LOUIS — It was nearly two years ago when Jorge De La Rosa’s career flashed before his eyes.

It was May 24, 2011, at Coors Field in the first game of a doubleheader against the Arizona Diamondbacks when he blew out his left elbow. He underwent Tommy John surgery 10 days later.

Sunday, on a sparkling spring afternoon at Busch Stadium, De La Rosa made it all the way back. Is it too much to say that his performance legitimized him as a true force and pushed the Rockies a step closer to being a true contender?

The left-hander flirted with a no-hitter before losing it with two outs in the seventh as the Rockies broke out of their biblical offensive drought to beat the Cardinals 8-2 and snap a four-game losing streak.

“They have a very good lineup,” said De La Rosa, who now has pitched 14 consecutive scoreless innings, including six scoreless innings against the New York Yankees on Tuesday at Coors Field. “I thought I was throwing some good pitches, but I got a little lucky today.”

Manager Walt Weiss said it was more than luck.

“It looked like his slider was an effective pitch and his changeup was good,” said Weiss, adding that he would have allowed De La Rosa to chase his no-hitter into the ninth, even though De La Rosa threw 100 pitches in his seven innings. “We know that De La Rosa has really good stuff, and when he commands it, he can be really tough.”

St. Louis’ David Freese ended De La Rosa’s no-hit bid, skidding a hot shot by first baseman Jordan Pacheco into right field. Jon Jay then laced a double to left, but the Cardinals never scored a run off De La Rosa. His final line: two hits, seven strikeouts and three walks. The Cardinals struggled to make solid contact.

“De La Rosa today was exceptional,” Freese said. “You never want to lose a game. You never want to get no-hit either. I remember last year, it was pretty frustrating against (Mets ace Johan) Santana and it was creeping up on us. So it was nice to get it out of the way.”

De La Rosa improved to 4-3 and lowered his ERA to 2.98, second on the club to Jhoulys Chacin’s 2.70. De La Rosa’s 100 pitches (60 for strikes) were his biggest workload since May 13, 2011, when he threw 102 pitches vs. the San Diego Padres.

“To get off to a start like this is very impressive,” Weiss said. “We all know he’s got a good arm. We’ve seen him dominate some good lineups in this league. When he’s commanding his stuff, he’s one of the tougher left-handers, I think, in the National League.”

Troy Tulowitzki’s homer in the third inning snapped the Rockies’ string of 28 innings without scoring a run. The Rockies were held to just one hit by Cardinals rookie Shelby Miller on Friday night and had only two hits Saturday afternoon against Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright.

Someone needed to remove the albatross from the Rockies’ shoulders. It turned out to be Tulo.

“We hadn’t scored in a while, and hadn’t gotten a big hit in a while, so to hit a three-run homer to put us on the board, it definitely was a big hit,” Tulowitzki said. “I think it took the pressure off Jorge so he didn’t feel like he had to be perfect, even though he was really close to being perfect.”

The Rockies lost their bid for their second shutout of the season when the Cardinals scored twice off reliever Matt Belisle in the ninth.

De La Rosa was trying to throw the second no-hitter in franchise history. The first came from Ubaldo Jimenez on April 17, 2010, in the Rockies’ 4-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. De La Rosa didn’t get his no-no, but he matched Jason Jennings for the deepest a Rockies pitcher took a no-hitter into a game before losing it. Jennings went 6 at Pittsburgh on Aug. 1, 2002.

Long road back

Rockies left-hander Jorge De La Rosa has faced a tough road to regain his place as a quality starting pitcher. A look at his journey:

May 24, 2011: Tears the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow vs. the Diamondbacks.

June 3, 2011: Undergoes Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery and misses rest of the season.

Sept. 25, 2012: Returns to the majors and pitches just 3 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits at San Francisco. He finishes the season 0-2 with a 9.28 ERA in three starts.

Tuesday: Pitches six scoreless innings, allowing three hits in a 2-0 victory over the Yankees.

Sunday: Takes a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Cardinals. Allows no runs on two hits and strikes out seven in Colorado’s 8-2 victory.

COLORADO AT CHICAGO CUBS

Rockies’ Juan Nicasio (3-0, 4.72 ERA) at Cubs’ Travis Wood (3-2, 2.33), 6:05 p.m., Monday, ROOT; 850 AM

If right-hander Juan Nicasio wants to stay in the Rockies’ rotation, he must pitch deeper into games. It’s that simple. Or maybe not. He has made it to six innings just once in six starts this season. When he’s on, with his fastball popping in the mid-90s and his slider and changeup working in concert, he can be formidable. Nicasio owns a 7-1 record with a 2.23 ERA when he pitches six innings or more. His last start, against the Mets, was better. He gave up two runs on two hits in five innings but needed 91 pitches to get there.

Upcoming Pitching Matchups

Tuesday: Rockies’ Jeff Francis (1-3, 6.90 ERA) at Cubs’ Carlos Villanueva (1-2, 3.02), 6:05 p.m., ROOT

Wednesday: Rockies’ Jon Garland (3-3, 4.83) at Cubs’ Jeff Samardzija (1-5, 3.70), 6:05 p.m., ROOT

Thursday: Giants’ Matt Cain (2-2, 5.04) at Rockies’ Jhoulys Chacin (3-2, 2.70), 6:40 p.m., ROOT

Friday: Giants’ Madison Bumgarner (4-1, 2.18) at Rockies’ Jorge De La Rosa (4-3, 2.98), 6:40, ROOT

Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post