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Diamondbacks-Rockies Preview

Jul 21, 2009 - 6:13 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Arizona (39-53) at Colorado (50-42), 8:40 p.m. EDT

The Colorado Rockies' remarkable surge of nearly two months has put them at the top of the NL wild-card standings.

With Aaron Cook looking for his 10th win, the Rockies try to maintain that lead in the continuation of a three-game home series with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.

Dexter Fowler and Chris Iannetta homered in Colorado's 10-6 win over Arizona on Monday. That victory, coupled with San Francisco's loss to Atlanta, leaves the Rockies (51-42) with a one-half game lead over the Giants in the wild-card race.

"We're being chased now," said Rockies manager Jim Tracy, who took over when Clint Hurdle was fired after an 18-28 start.

"It's still really early in the second half, but one thing you can bear in mind, as of right now you know you don't have to look around and talk about, 'Well, we need help here.' That's a nice situation to put yourself in."

On June 3, Colorado was 20-32 and 9 1/2 games out of the wild-card lead. The Rockies are 31-10 since then and are focused on returning to the postseason two years after reaching the World Series.

"It's important for the team," Cook told the Rockies' official Web site. "We've put ourselves in the position right now to have something special happen as long as we continue playing good baseball."

Cook (9-3, 3.85 ERA) has been a major contributor to the resurgence. He allowed one run and eight hits while striking out a season-high eight in a 10-1 win at San Diego on Thursday.

The right-hander is 5-4 with a 5.19 ERA in 18 starts versus Arizona, but has posted a 9.82 ERA in two outings without a decision against the Diamondbacks this season.

Though Iannetta is batting .228, the catcher has five RBIs in his last four games, and is 3 for 5 with a homer and two RBIs against Arizona's Max Scherzer (5-6, 3.64), who hasn't pitched in almost two weeks.

After losing his previous two starts, Scherzer allowed two runs and four hits while striking out nine in seven innings, but didn't factor in the decision of a 6-2 win over San Diego on July 8.

"I wanted to give Max as much of a gap, a good long break in the middle of the season," manager A.J. Hinch told the Diamondbacks' official Web site. "His innings are getting pretty high. I wanted to take into consideration the length of the season for him."

The right-hander is 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA versus the Rockies in his career. He allowed three earned runs in six innings of a 5-0 loss to them on July 3.

Mark Reynolds hit his 25th homer and Stephen Drew added a two-run shot and three RBIs on Monday for the Diamondbacks (39-54), who've lost two in a row and four of five.

Reynolds, who's 7 for 15 through the first four of a six-game trip, has five home runs and 10 RBIs against the Rockies this season.