San Diego @ Colorado preview
Coors Field
Last Meeting ( Jul 9, 2010 ) San Diego 8, Colorado 10
One more come-from-behind win later and all of a sudden the Colorado Rockies have a chance to be in first place at the All-Star break.
The Rockies will be looking to pull within one game of first place when they take on the NL West-leading San Diego Padres on Saturday.
Colorado has won five straight contests and seven of eight to move into second place in the division after being as many as six games out of first and in fourth place on June 27.
The Rockies have done a lot of damage since then in their own division, taking two of three from the Padres to close out June and three of four from the San Francisco Giants to open July.
The surge has come with some fireworks, including two dramatic ninth-inning wins in a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals earlier in the week. In addition, Friday’s 10-8 win in the series opener against San Diego saw Colorado overcome a pair of deficits.
Ian Stewart was the hero Friday night, clubbing a grand slam in the seventh inning to cap a five-run rally and put the Rockies ahead for good. Stewart also homered earlier in the game and finished with a career-high six RBIs.
Jason Giambi, who has been filling in at first base since Todd Helton was place on the disabled list on Tuesday, chipped in two hits and an RBI on Friday and is 9-for-12 with three RBIs and three runs scored in three starts.
Should the Rockies continue their surge and complete a sweep of San Diego, they would go into the All-Star break in a tie atop the division.
Wade LeBlanc will get the start for the Padres on Saturday and is looking to snap a four-start winless streak.
The left-hander from Louisiana is carrying a sparkling 3.10 ERA, but has only four wins due some poor run support and the fact that he doesn’t generally work deep into games. He has made it through seven innings only twice in 15 starts this season.
LeBlanc suffered a loss against the Rockies on June 29 despite allowing only two hits in 6 1/3 innings. Carlos Gonzalez hit a solo homer and LeBlanc walked a batter and gave up a hit before being removed in the seventh, when Edward Mujica came on and allowed both inherited runners to score.
Jason Hammel opposed LeBlanc in that start and will do the same on Saturday. The right-hander has been strong recently, going 5-0 with a 2.09 ERA over his last eight starts. Hammel got the win last time against San Diego, allowing three runs in six innings.
In seven career games - six starts - against the division rivals, Hammel is 1-0 with a 5.17 ERA and four homers allowed in 38 1/3 innings.
Veteran slugger Matt Stairs has taken Hammel deep twice in eight at-bats and Jerry Hairston Jr. hit a solo shot in the June 29 start.