DENVER (AP) -- With his own supply of bats feeling strange in his hands, Todd Helton decided to experiment with some lumber belonging to former teammate Jeff Manto.

Eureka!

Helton became the sixth player in Colorado history to hit three homers in a game, going 4-for-5 with five RBI to lead the Rockies over the Montreal Expos 15-8 Monday night.

	Todd Helton's three HRs give him four multihomer games vs. the Expos in three seasons as a pro.

"None of my bats feel good," Helton said. "They feel terrible in my hands and his feel good. I'll probably use them tomorrow, too."

Larry Walker and Jeffrey Hammonds also connected for the Rockies, and the teams tied a Coors Field record with 10 homers. They continued a high-scoring homestand that started when Colorado and the New York Mets scored 61 runs in three games over the weekend.

"This is a new millennium, but there are some things that don't change," said Expos manager Felipe Alou, who managed at Triple-A Denver in 1981. "I've seen the ball fly out of here like this."

Helton, who has nine multihomer games in three seasons -- four against Montreal -- hit a pair of two-run homers off starter Dustin Hermanson (3-2) and added a solo shot off Anthony Telford in the seventh.

He joined Kevin Elster of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Alex Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners in hitting three homers in a game this season.

"It's great, especially this early in the season," said Helton, a career .240 hitter in April who is batting .362 with nine homers and 30 RBI. "I'm happy that I'm hitting the ball and driving the ball."

Chris Widger hit two solo homers and Peter Bergeron added his first career home run for the Expos, who lost for only the fourth time in 12 games.

Helton's second homer of the game -- an opposite-field liner off Hermanson -- gave the Rockies an 8-7 lead in the fifth. Walker added a two-run shot as part of a six-run sixth that gave Colorado a seven-run cushion.

"Nothing about this park surprises me. My stuff was as good as it was in my wins," Hermanson said. "You take what the park gives you and move on to your next start. I'm ready for my next outing against Milwaukee."

Gabe White (1-0) retired all three hitters he faced in relief of starter Kevin Jarvis, and Colorado's battered bullpen had its best showing of the homestand, allowing one run -- a solo homer to Rondell White -- in five innings.

"We've been talking about these guys for the last four out of five games and they did a hell of a job," Colorado manager Buddy Bell said. "They're going to have to continue to do that if we're going to be successful."

Montreal erased an early 5-1 deficit as Widger hit a solo homer leading off the fourth and Bergeron tied the game with a three-run shot into the bullpen behind right-center field.

Jose Vidro and Widger hit back-to-back homers in the fifth to give the Expos a brief lead before the Rockies chased Hermanson in the bottom half.

"We don't want any pitcher to feel bad or any hitter to feel good about this place," Alou said. "There have been many great pitchers suffer through all this and many great hitters who got a lot of cheap home runs."

Game notes
The home-run barrage marked the fourth time 10 homers have been hit in a game at Coors field. ... Hermanson gave up eight runs in 4 1-3 innings as his ERA jumped to 4.12 from 2.57. He had allowed two runs in his previous 24 innings. ... Montreal starters had gone at least six innings in eight straight games. .... Helton was 0-for-7 in his career against Hermanson before hitting his first two homers. ... Colorado RHP Rolando Arrojo, who is on the disabled list with a strained hamstring, threw 60 pitches in a simulated game Monday and is expected to return to the starting rotation Saturday in San Francisco. ... Montreal C Chris Widger left the game in the seventh inning with a swollen right hand and index finger. ... The Expos called up RHP pitcher Jeremy Powell from Triple-A Ottawa and optioned IF Andrew Tracy to the same club.