Atlanta @ Colorado preview
Coors Field
Last Meeting ( Aug 24, 2010 ) Atlanta 2, Colorado 5
The Atlanta Braves will try to put the brakes on a two-game skid and avoid a series sweep when they face the Colorado Rookies on Wednesday.
Atlanta’s usually reliable attack has gone cold in the thin air of Denver, scoring just six runs through the first two games of the series. The Braves amassed 16 runs in a win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday before traveling to Colorado.
Atlanta (73-53) still sits 2 1/2 games in front of the second-place Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East, but would love to salvage a win against the Rockies before heading back home to host the Florida Marlins this weekend.
Outside of Omar Infante, who has a 13-game hitting streak, Atlanta hasn’t been able to put together much offensively in Colorado. The Braves are still waiting for Derrek Lee to find his stride with his new club. Lee is just 2-for-19 with eight strikeouts since coming over from the Cubs.
Atlanta’s Jair Jurrjens (5-4, 3.91 ERA) gets the call today. He is 2-0 in his last four trips to the hill, allowing seven total runs in that span. The Braves won all four of those outings.
Jurrjens has been tough against the Rockies in his career. He is 4-1 with a 3.02 ERA lifetime against the Rockies and is 2-1 with a 2.61 ERA at Coors Field.
Meanwhile, Esmil Rogers (2-2, 4.53) gets the ball for Colorado. He is 1-0 with a 4.00 ERA in his last three starts and had his best outing of the season his last time out, holding Arizona to one run over 6 1/3 innings. He took a no-decision in a 4-3 loss.
Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez leads the team in both home runs and stolen bases. He hit his 26th shot of the year Tuesday and has 20 swipes on the year. He is also 7-for-18 with two homers and six RBIs versus the Braves this season.
Todd Helton was hitless in Tuesday night’s loss, but has a hit in 10 of the 16 games he has played since coming off the disabled list on Aug. 3. Helton leads all NL hitters, seeing an average of 4.42 pitches per at-bat this year.
Colorado 10 1/2 games back of San Diego in the NL West and five games back of Philadelphia and division foe San Francisco in the wild-card race.