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Rockies-Padres Preview

Jul 18, 2009 - 6:41 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Colorado (49-41) at San Diego (36-54), 10:05 p.m. EDT

The Colorado Rockies were 10 games below .500 and well out of the NL West race when Clint Hurdle was fired as manager on May 29.

Although the Rockies still have some work to do to move atop the division standings, manager Jim Tracy has them making a serious playoff push.

With a chance at taking over the NL wild-card lead, Colorado goes for its fourth straight victory Saturday night when it continues its four-game set at Petco Park against the last-place San Diego Padres.

Since Hurdle was relieved of his duties with the team 18-28 and 14 1/2 games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, Tracy has led Colorado to a 31-13 mark.

The Rockies trail the Dodgers by seven games in the division, but if San Francisco loses to Pittsburgh on Saturday night and Colorado defeats San Diego for the eighth time in 11 meetings this season, the Rockies will take a one-half game lead over the Giants in the wild-card race.

Right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez struck out a season-high 10 as Colorado (49-41) defeated San Diego 5-3 on Friday to move eight games over .500 for the first time since 2007, when it won 90 games and advanced to the World Series under Hurdle.

"He's inches away, in my opinion, from being a very, very special pitcher," Tracy said of Jimenez.

Tracy gives the ball to right-hander Jason Hammel as the Rockies try to win for the 16th time in 20 games away from Coors Field.

Hammel (5-4, 4.43 ERA) is looking to bounce back from one of his worst starts of the season. In Sunday's 8-7 win over Atlanta, Hammel yielded five runs and nine hits over three innings. It was his shortest outing since a 3 2-3-inning effort against the Padres on May 30, when he gave up six runs and eight hits in an 8-7 win.

Hammel walked three and yielded five runs in three innings against San Diego on April 27, but the Rockies won 12-7.

Although opponents are hitting .281 against Hammel in his last 10 starts, Colorado has won nine of these games.

San Diego (36-54) counters with right-hander Kevin Correia (6-7, 4.50). In Sunday's 10-4 victory at San Francisco, the Padres snapped a season-high seven-game slide as Correia allowed three runs and eight hits over 5 2-3 innings.

"You kind of get to the point where you have to prove you can do it, and we did today," said Correia, 0-1 with an 8.64 ERA in two starts against the Rockies in 2009. "We've got guys that can hit the ball. We just have to start doing it on a consistent basis."

The Padres, however, are batting a major league-worst .232. San Diego had three hits in Friday's loss and fell to a major league-worst 11-29 since the beginning of June.

San Diego first baseman Adrian Gonzalez went hitless for the third consecutive game Friday but walked twice for the second straight contest. Since hitting a three-run shot off Hammel on May 30, Gonzalez has five homers in 139 at-bats.

Rockies second baseman Clint Barmes homered for the second straight game Friday - a solo shot in the first inning that set a career high with 12.

Colorado's All-Star right fielder Brad Hawpe returned to the lineup Friday and went 2 for 4 after being held out of Thursday's series opener.