Miami @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 23, 2014 ) Miami 4, Colorado 5

The Colorado Rockies dropped out of National League playoff contention long ago, but Corey Dickerson is making every game count. The reigning NL Player of the Week tries to continue his break-through season when Colorado hosts the Miami Marlins on Sunday in the rubber match of the three-game series. Dickerson delivered a walk-off single in the 13th inning to give the Rockies a 5-4 victory Saturday after his game-tying home run in the ninth landed in the third deck.

''He doesn't have peaks and valleys - he's good all the time,'' fellow outfielder Charlie Blackmon told ROOT Sports regarding Dickerson, who is hitting .322 with 19 homers and 61 RBIs in 103 games. Miami (64-64) remained four games behind San Francisco for the final wild-card spot in the NL. Colorado rookie Christian Bergman makes his fourth career start - and first since breaking a bone in his left hand June 20 - as he opposes Brad Hand, who is winless in his last four turns.

TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, FSN Florida (Miami), ROOT (Colorado)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins LH Brad Hand (2-5, 4.52 ERA) vs. Rockies RH Christian Bergman (0-2, 7.20)

Hand, who pitched an inning of scoreless relief in Miami's 5-4 loss to Texas on Wednesday, got the nod over veteran Brad Penny. Hand, a second-round draft pick of the Marlins in 2008, is 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA in his last four starts. The 24-year-old Minnesota native is 4-15 with a 4.50 ERA in 46 career games - 3-15, 4.76 in 26 starts.

Bergman pitched 26 1/3 innings over five rehab appearances - two with Double-A Tulsa and three with Triple-A Colorado Springs - and recorded a 4.79 ERA while yielding 31 hits. The 26-year-old Californian suffered his injury on a comebacker in Colorado's 13-10 loss to Milwaukee as he yielded seven runs and nine hits in three frames. Bergman's first two career turns were quality starts as he yielded a combined five runs in 12 innings against San Francisco and Atlanta.

WALK-OFFS

1. Dickerson's average would lead the NL, but he only has 365 plate appearances - 137 short of qualifying to win the batting title. Should the 25-year-old Mississippi native play in all 34 remaining games, he would need to record five plate appearances in at least two contests and four in the others.

2. The Rockies have walked 14 batters in the series - including three with the bases loaded, raising their NL-leading total to 440 (3.4 per game).

3. Colorado RF Michael Cuddyer on Saturday walked as a pinch hitter in the 12th inning after missing the previous three games with a sore left hamstring.

PREDICTION: Marlins 9, Rockies 8