Rockies at Diamondbacks
Colorado's Jorge De La Rosa is pitching pain-free and is loaded with
confidence, not a good combination for those who have to face him. De La
Rosa will look to continue his mastery of Arizona when the Rockies
visit the Diamondbacks on Thursday to begin a four-game series. De La
Rosa is 7-3 with a 2.23 ERA against Arizona - including six shutout
innings in Colorado's 4-3 victory on Saturday - and his Tommy John
elbow surgery in 2011 is a distant memory.
The Rockies were poised to
sweep the Diamondbacks in a three-game series last weekend in Denver,
but Arizona rallied for two runs in the ninth inning for a 5-4 victory
Sunday. That began a stretch of three straight losses for Colorado,
which snapped the slide with a 6-5 victory over Atlanta in 12 innings
after improbably extending the game with two runs off closer Craig
Kimbrel in the ninth inning. Arizona returns to Chase Field for a
seven-game homestand after a 4-5 road trip ended with a 3-2 victory in
10 innings at San Francisco on Wednesday.
TV: 9:40 p.m. ET, ROOT Sports (Colorado), Fox Sports Arizona
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies LH Jorge De La Rosa (2-1, 2.82 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks RH Trevor Cahill (0-3, 3.60)
De
La Rosa has a string of 17 consecutive innings over three quality
starts going back to a 4-2 loss at San Francisco on April 8, when he
allowed a three-run homer to Hunter Pence in the first inning. The
32-year-old Mexico native has 17 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings with a
WHIP of 1.03 and a batting average against of .200. Cody Ross has the
most experience against De La Rosa with seven hits in 24 at-bats, with
two homers, five RBIs and five walks.
Cahill said his trademark
sinker escaped him when he yielded four runs (three earned) and six hits
in seven innings in Saturday's loss. The 25-year-old Oceanside, Calif.,
native pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings in his previous start, when he
earned a no-decision in Arizona's 1-0 victory over the Dodgers on April
14. Cahill is 1-4 with a 5.30 ERA in six career starts against Colorado.
Cahill has kept Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez (combined
4-for-17) in check.
WALK-OFFS
1. Colorado (14-7) didn't win its 14th game in 2012 until its 35th contest.
2.
Arizona manager Kurt Gibson assured reporters that J.J. Putz remains
the closer despite blowing three saves in six chances. Matt Reynolds got
the opportunity in Tuesday’s game and earned his second straight save
Wednesday after David Hernandez blew his chance.
3. Colorado leads the majors with a .280 batting average, .473 slugging percentage and an .809 OPS.