PHILADELPHIA -- Coming off a terrific rookie season that saw Trevor Story hit .272 with 27 home runs and 72 RBIs in 97 games, the Colorado Rockies shortstop struggled out of the gates in 2017.

Story, who was hitting .180 through his first 111 at-bats, went on the disabled list with a strained left shoulder earlier this month.

It appears two weeks off might have been exactly what he needed.

Story returned to the Colorado lineup Wednesday night, doubling in his first at-bat and scoring the opening run of what became a seven-run third inning to help the Rockies past the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 at Citizens Bank Park.

"Felt good," the 24-year-old Story said. "Just glad to be back with the boys and keep this thing rolling."

The Rockies, who improved to a National League-best 31-17, go for the four-game sweep Thursday.

Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood was outstanding, holding the Phillies (15-29) hitless until Andrew Knapp's single with two outs in the fifth inning.

Chatwood (4-6, 4.50 ERA) struck out eight Phillies in seven innings before being removed because of a high pitch count, giving up one walk and one hit as he continued his string of getting a decision in every start this season.

It was the second time this year he held his opponent scoreless, along with a complete-game shutout against the San Francisco Giants in April.

"I had a pretty good command of my two-seam (fastball)," he said, "mixing it in and out, good curve and a changeup to keep them off-balance."

The Phillies' only runs came in the eighth inning on a two-run homer by Michael Saunders.

By that point, though, they needed quite a few more as the Rockies' bats woke up big time in the third against Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson.

After Story's inning-opening double and a Tony Walters walk, Chatwood sacrificed the two to second and third.

Then came a string of five straight hits -- a two-run single from Charlie Blackmon, a single by D.J. LeMahieu, an RBI single from Nolan Arenado and a backbreaking three-run homer to right by Carlos Gonzalez, which was followed by a triple from Ian Desmond.

By the time the inning was over, the Rockies had sent 11 men to the plate, producing seven runs and six hits.

"Hitting's contagious," Story said. "I think especially with us, we pride ourselves on being good hitters, so it's fun when we get it rolling and it's fun to be part of that."

Colorado finished with 12 hits, their sixth game in a row with 10 hits or more. The hits came off the bats of 10 different Rockies as only Gonzalez (3-for-5, three RBIs) had multiple hits.

Story finished 1-for-2 with two walks.

"Trevor got on base three times tonight, two good walks and a base hit, so on-base percentage was great today," Black said. "What he's worked on the last couple weeks about being in the batter's box and being more quiet and within himself, I think that showed up tonight."

Hellickson (5-2, 4.28 ERA) lasted through the fifth inning before he was pulled for a pinch hitter. He allowed seven runs and eight hits while striking out two batters and walking a season-high four.

In five May starts, Hellickson is 1-2 with a 7.30 ERA.

"(Hellickson) had that one bad inning, he had poor command of his change-up," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "He was yanking his change-up, not locating it. That's his out pitch and he didn't have it tonight."

Starting pitching is just one of numerous issues plaguing the Phillies, who have dropped 20 of their last 24 games to fall into the cellar of the NL East. Wednesday's game was their fifth in a row scoring three runs or fewer, and they've only scored more than five runs once in their last 12 games.

"I know we're better than this," Mackanin said. "We've got to have some kind of spark to get out of it, win a couple in a row and it could put us on a winning streak."

NOTES: Phillies RHP Vince Velasquez (2-4, 5.98 ERA) opposes Rockies LHP Tyler Anderson (3-4, 6.00) on Thursday. ... Phillies 3B Maikel Franco (.221 average) sat for the second consecutive game with Andres Blanco starting again in his spot. ... Phillies 3B Howie Kendrick, on the DL since April 18, began a rehab stint with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. ... Colorado improved to 7-2 on a season-long 10-game road swing that concludes Thursday.