Final
Rockies-Athletics Preview
Jun 28, 2009 - 6:16 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior WriterColorado (39-35) at Oakland (31-42), 4:05 p.m. EDT
Aaron Cook probably doesn't want to see the month of June come to an end.
The Colorado ace looks for a fifth straight victory while trying to help the Rockies complete a three-game road sweep of the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.
Cook (7-3, 4.00 ERA) allowed one run and three hits in seven innings of an 11-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday. While Cook became the Rockies' all-time leader by passing Jason Jennings with 59 career victories, and Pedro Astacio for most road wins (30), he also improved to 4-0 with a 1.93 ERA in his last four starts since losing June 1 at Houston.
"It was quite a statement from Aaron," Rockies manager Jim Tracy told the Rockies' official Web site of Cook, who's spent his entire eight-year career with Colorado. "I think there is more to come from him.
"When you talk about some of the better starting pitching in either league, you have to bring his name up."
The 30-year-old right-hander, who went 3-3 with a 4.94 ERA in his first 11 starts, gave up one run over eight innings of a 3-2 loss to Oakland on June 21, 2006, in his only start against the A's.
The surging Rockies (39-35) put themselves in position for their first sweep in Oakland by holding on for an 11-9 win Saturday. Colorado has won 19 of its last 22, and is 21-7 since Jim Tracy replaced the fired Clint Hurdle as manager.
Ian Stewart and Brad Hawpe hit two of the four home runs for Colorado, which led 11-2 after six innings. Huston Street, however, was needed to come in during the ninth to earn his 18th save and second straight against his former team.
"That's the way the game goes, you can never take a lazy step," said Street, who had 94 saves in his first four major league seasons with Oakland. "That's not a mistake we can afford to make."
Hawpe, among the NL leaders with a .336 average, hit his 100th homer for the Rockies, who've gone deep 20 times in their last 10 games and are second in the NL with 91 home runs.
Stewart, meanwhile, is batting .214, but has a team-leading 14 homers for Colorado, which is 10-4 during interleague play.
Kurt Suzuki and Bobby Crosby each had two RBIs on Saturday for Oakland (31-42), which has lost four in a row and is 5-12 against NL opponents this season.
"Obviously it was too little too late but I thought that the way they came back right at the end just shows the heart," said Oakland manager Bob Geren, whose team scored four times in the ninth.
Oakland's Matt Holliday singled Saturday and is 3 for 6 in the series versus his former team. Holliday, who has never hit worse than .290 in five seasons with the Rockies, is batting .274 in his first with the A's.
Vin Mazzaro (2-2, 2.56) looks to bounce back for Oakland after giving up a career-high four runs and seven hits while striking out six in six innings of a 4-1 loss to Tim Lincecum and San Francisco on Tuesday.
The rookie right-hander is 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in his last three starts after not allowing a run in the first two of his career earlier this month.
- ML
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
COLORADO 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 9 2
OAKLAND 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 11 1 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: COL - AARON COOK, HUSTON STREET (9TH) AND CHRIS IANNETTA
OAK - VINCENT MAZZARO, CRAIG BRESLOW (6TH), SANTIAGO
CASILLA (7TH), BRAD ZIEGLER (8TH), ANDREW BAILEY (9TH)
Jun 28 6:55 PM - ML
AT OAKLAND - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY RYAN SWEENEY SCORED KURT SUZUKI.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R SWEENEY ON FIRST, O CABRERA ON THIRD, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 3
OAKLAND 1 BOTTOM, 9TH
DUE UP FOR OAKLAND: L POWELL (.200, 1-FOR-3)
Rockies 3, Athletics 1 Bot 9, 0 OutsJun 28 6:49 PM - ML
AT OAKLAND - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY CARLOS GONZALEZ SCORED TROY TULOWITZKI.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C GONZALEZ ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 3
OAKLAND 0 TOP, 6TH
DUE UP FOR COLORADO: S SMITH (.305, 1-FOR-2, RBI)
Rockies 3, Athletics 0 Top 6, 0 OutsJun 28 5:53 PM - ML
AT OAKLAND - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY SETH SMITH SCORED CHRIS IANNETTA.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, S SMITH ON SECOND, C GONZALEZ ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 2
OAKLAND 0 TOP, 2ND
DUE UP FOR COLORADO: D FOWLER (.259, 0-FOR-1)
Rockies 2, Athletics 0 Top 2, 0 OutsJun 28 4:38 PM - ML
AT OAKLAND - SCORING UPDATE
FIELDER'S CHOICE BY CHRIS IANNETTA SCORED TROY TULOWITZKI.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C IANNETTA ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 1
OAKLAND 0 TOP, 2ND
DUE UP FOR COLORADO: C GONZALEZ (.200, 1 HR, 3 RBI)
Rockies 1, Athletics 0 Top 2, 0 OutsJun 28 4:33 PM
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