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Rockies-Padres Preview

Jul 17, 2009 - 6:38 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Colorado (48-41) at San Diego (36-53), 10:05 p.m. EDT

The Colorado Rockies finished the first half of the season better than any other team, and a lopsided victory coming out of the All-Star break has them surging even closer to playoff contention.

Three more games this weekend against the San Diego Padres could certainly help.

The Rockies will be looking to deal the woeful Padres a ninth loss in their last 10 games as the clubs continue a four-game series at Petco Park on Friday night.

Colorado's 27-9 record from June 4 through last weekend was the best in baseball over that span, and the Rockies (48-41) moved within 1 1/2 games of San Francisco for the NL wild card lead with a 10-1 win over the Padres on Thursday.

"We wanted to come out and pick it right back up and not slow down," infielder Clint Barmes said.

As good as the Rockies have been recently, San Diego has been almost equally bad. After dropping eight of their last nine, the Padres (36-52) are a major league-worst 11-28 since the beginning of June, with their anemic offense scoring one or zero runs 10 times over that span.

That has happened three times in the team's last four games, and the club was no-hit by the Giants' Jonathan Sanchez last Friday. The Padres' .234 team batting average this year is easily the worst in the majors, and they managed one run despite raising that mark with 10 hits Thursday, stranding 14 runners.

The Rockies' offense has been far more robust. After scoring in six different innings Thursday, Colorado ranks second in the NL with 452 runs.

Todd Helton went 4 for 5 to raise his average to .327, while Barmes' three-run home run broke the game open in the sixth as the Rockies moved to 6-3 against San Diego this year.

Colorado won even without All-Star Brad Hawpe, who is expected back in the lineup Friday.

"Knowing the whirlwind he obviously went through over the last couple of days, I wanted him to have another day off to get rest," Colorado manager Jim Tracy said.

Hawpe will try to support Ubaldo Jimenez (6-9, 3.81 ERA) as he seeks his first win since June 18. The right-hander finished the first half by going 0-3 in his final four starts, but those results were largely due to minimal run support, as his ERA was a respectable 4.10 over that span.

He allowed two runs in six innings and struck out eight last Friday against Atlanta, but the Rockies lost 4-1.

Jimenez is 3-3 with a 3.70 ERA in seven starts against the Padres, although he lost all three of his outings at Petco Park last year, compiling a 6.60 ERA there.

He'll be facing Josh Geer, who is in the midst of a far longer winless drought. His only victory in 16 appearances this season came May 23 against the Chicago Cubs.

Since then, Geer (1-4, 5.79) is 0-3 with a 6.52 ERA in nine appearances - eight starts. He lost at San Francisco last Thursday after giving up six runs, including three homers, in 4 2-3 innings.

Geer pitched eight strong innings in the Padres' 2-1, 10-inning loss to Colorado on May 5, but he allowed five earned runs in 6 2-3 innings at Coors Field on May 30.