Rockies at Diamondbacks
The Colorado Rockies took the first step toward overtaking the Arizona Diamondbacks for the first wild card in the National League and hope to take another when they visit their NL West rivals on Tuesday for the second contest of their four-game set. Colorado held on for a 5-4 victory in the series opener that drew it within four games of Arizona in the wild-card standings.
Nolan Arenado delivered an RBI double and a three-run homer as the Rockies extended their winning streak to five games. DJ LeMahieu has been on fire since his 16-game hitting streak came to an end on Saturday, going 5-for-9 over his last two games. While Colorado is surging, Arizona has lost three of the first four contests on its seven-game homestand. J.D. Martinez is swinging a red-hot bat this month, hitting safely in eight of nine games while recording five multi-hit performances - including three in a row (9-for-13) entering Tuesday's matchup.
TV: 9:40 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado), FSN Arizona
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies RH Jon Gray (7-4, 4.07 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks RH Taijuan Walker (9-7, 3.33)
Gray is coming off a strong start against the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Thursday, when he allowed one run and four hits over six innings en route to victory. The 25-year-old native of Oklahoma has won two straight turns on the road after going 0-3 over his previous five outings away from home. Gray has split a pair of decisions against the Diamondbacks this year, posting the triumph in Arizona on June 30 as he gave up two runs while recording a season-high 10 strikeouts over six frames.
Walker has been outstanding over his last four starts, going 3-0 while allowing a total of two runs in 22 2/3 innings. The 25-year-old from Louisiana has served up just one home run during the unbeaten streak but has worked more than six frames only once. One of the wins came against the Rockies on Sept. 1, when Walker registered 10 strikeouts while yielding three hits in five scoreless innings at Colorado to improve to 2-1 in four turns versus the club this season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Martinez was named the NL Player of the Week after hitting .429 with seven home runs - including four in one contest - and 11 RBIs in six games.
2. Colorado LHP Kyle Freeland exited the series opener in the fourth inning after being hit in the shoulder and jaw with a line drive.
3. Arizona 1B Paul Goldschmidt is one homer away from matching the career high of 36 he set in 2013.