San Diego @ Colorado preview
Coors Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 30, 2010 ) Colorado 3, San Diego 13
A hot team of late, the Colorado Rockies are about to get even stronger with the return of Jorge De La Rosa.
The right-hander will make his first start since April 26 when the Rockies open a three-game series against the San Diego Padres on Friday.
Coming off a spectacular sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals that included two ninth-inning comebacks - one in which the club scored nine runs in the bottom of the ninth to overcome a six-run deficit, capped by Seth Smith’s three-run homer - the Rockies are beginning to look like the team that used strong second halves to advance to the playoffs in 2007 and 2009.
The sweep pushed Colorado to 6-1 in July and just three games behind the National League West-leading Padres.
Injuries to shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and Todd Helton were supposed to crush the club, but other members of the team have picked up the slack so far, including Smith and Clint Barmes, who took over at shortstop for Tulowitzki and put together a 14-game hitting streak that came to an end on Wednesday. He recorded eight multi-hit games in that span.
Veteran Jason Giambi has gotten some starts at first base in place of Helton and went 7-for-9 in the series against the Cardinals, homering on Wednesday.
More reinforcements are coming in the form of De La Rosa, who will be activated from the disabled list today after missing over two months with a torn tendon in his left middle finger. The left-hander, who was expected to be a big part of the Rockies this season after a breakout 2009 campaign, was 3-1 with a 3.91 ERA before going down.
His best start of April was his first, when he dominated San Diego over seven innings, allowing just one hit and no runs while striking out nine and walking one. Strikeouts have always been a huge part of De La Rosa’s game, and the lefty was averaging more than one per inning - 26 in 23 frames - when he went down.
The Padres are coming off a 7-1 win over the Washington Nationals on Thursday that avoided a three-game sweep.
San Diego will send right-hander Kevin Correia to the mound today. The 29-year-old has not earned a win since May 31 and owns the worst ERA among Padres starters at 5.05. But he is coming off one of his best performances of the season, holding the Houston Astros scoreless over seven innings while allowing five hits in a no-decision.
He got pounded by Colorado on June 28, allowing six runs on seven hits while walking six in five innings to suffer a loss. Correia has faced the Rockies more than any other team in his career, going 2-5 with a 4.74 ERA in 27 appearances - 10 starts.