Rockies at Diamondbacks
The Colorado Rockies' hopes of overtaking the Arizona Diamondbacks for the first wild-card spot in the National League took a hit on Wednesday as the club had its six-game winning streak halted with an 8-2 setback. The Rockies look to begin another run when they visit the Diamondbacks on Thursday afternoon for the finale of their four-game series.
Colorado pulled within three games of Arizona by winning the first two games of the set, but the deficit increased with Thursday's loss as the club managed only six hits. Trevor Story registered two of them while DJ LeMahieu belted his eighth homer of the season for the Rockies, who own a three-game lead over Milwaukee for the second wild card. Arizona is wrapping up a seven-game homestand during which it has gone 2-4. A.J. Pollock was the offensive star in Wednesday's victory, going 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs, while J.D. Martinez continued his torrid offensive pace as he registered a double and drove in a run to improve to 21-for-47 with nine homers and 19 RBIs in 11 games this month.
TV: 3:40 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado), FSN Arizona
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies RH Chad Bettis (1-2, 4.98 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks RH Zack Godley (7-7, 3.18)
It took six starts, but Bettis finally recorded his first victory of the season on Saturday after missing the first 4 1/2 months due to his battle with testicular cancer. The 28-year-old Texan gave up four runs - three earned - and six hits over five innings against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, striking out five without issuing a walk. Bettis is 1-1 with an unimpressive 7.30 ERA in nine career appearances (six starts) versus Arizona.
Godley settled for a no-decision against San Diego on Saturday after allowing two runs and four hits over seven innings. The 27-year-old native of South Carolina recorded nine strikeouts and did not walk a batter after issuing a whopping six free passes in a victory at Colorado six days earlier. Godley also won his first career start versus the Rockies on June 22 in Denver after making two relief appearances against the club last season - both in the Mile High City.
WALK-OFFS
1. Diamondbacks 1B Paul Goldschmidt went 2-for-4 on Wednesday to join Luis Gonzalez as the only players to register 1,000 hits with the club.
2. LeMahieu is 7-for-17 over his last four games and has hit safely in 20 of his last 21 contests.
3. Arizona 3B Jake Lamb plated two runs on Wednesday to give him 101 RBIs. Lamb and Goldschmidt (112) are the second duo in team history and first since 1999 (Matt Williams - 142, Jay Bell - 112, Gonzalez -111 and Steve Finley - 103) to reach the 100-RBI plateau.