Rockies at Giants
The Colorado Rockies have been unable to take advantage of Arizona's three-game slide and hope to avoid a third consecutive loss of their own when they visit the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday afternoon for the finale of their brief two-game set. Colorado dropped a 4-3 decision in Tuesday's series opener for its second straight setback, putting its hold on a playoff berth in danger.
The Rockies remain 4 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks for the first wild card in the National League and are only one ahead of Milwaukee - which has won three in a row - for the second spot. Charlie Blackmon delivered a two-run double in Tuesday's loss to raise his RBI total to 95 and become the first player in the major leagues this season - and first Rockie since Matt Holliday in 2007 - to reach the 200-hit plateau. Tuesday's win was the second straight for San Francisco, which salvaged the finale of its three-game home series against Arizona on Sunday. Hunter Pence homered and drove in three runs, including the winner with a walk-off sacrifice fly, while Pablo Sandoval improved to 5-for-7 with four RBIs over his last two games by recording three hits and plating a run.
TV: 3:45 p.m. ET, MLB Network, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado), NBCSN Bay Area (San Francisco)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies RH Tyler Chatwood (8-12, 4.57 ERA) vs Giants LH Matt Moore (5-14, 5.39)
Despite their brevity, Chatwood has been superb in three outings since rejoining the rotation, going 2-0 while allowing a total of one run over 13 2/3 innings. The 27-year-old Californian, who has worked more than six frames just once in 11 turns since an eight-inning effort on June 3 at San Diego, is coming off a win over the Padres on Friday in which he gave up a solo homer among four hits over 5 2/3 frames. Chatwood is 7-3 with a 2.73 ERA in 15 career starts against the Giants and 2-0 with a 2.25 mark in four outings this year, including a two-hit shutout - the first of his career - on April 15 at San Francisco.
Moore's nightmarish season continued last Wednesday, when he surrendered four runs on six hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings of a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 28-year-old Floridian had been pitching well of late, however, allowing fewer than three runs in four of his previous five turns. Moore has struggled mightily against Colorado, going 1-3 with a 9.64 ERA in six career starts - including an 0-2 record and a ghastly 13.51 ERA in three turns this year.
WALK-OFFS
1. Rockies OF Gerardo Parra recorded his second straight two-hit performance on Tuesday and has not gone two consecutive games without a hit since Aug. 6 and 8 against Philadelphia and Cleveland, respectively.
2. Pence is riding a five-game hitting streak during which he has gone 11-for-21 with six RBIs.
3. Colorado begins a four-game series at San Diego on Thursday before finishing the regular season with three-game home sets against Miami and the Los Angeles Dodgers.