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Jul 22, 2009 - 6:28 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Arizona (40-54) at Colorado (51-43), 3:10 p.m. EDT

When the Arizona Diamondbacks lost starting catcher Chris Snyder to injury last month, it seemed like just another breach of a foundering ship.

Instead, the emergence of the hot-hitting Miguel Montero has started to pull the Diamondbacks back above water.

Montero will look to continue his stellar play in Wednesday's finale of a three-game road set against the Colorado Rockies and lead Arizona to its fourth win in five series.

When Snyder went on the disabled list June 23 with a lower back strain, Arizona was in the midst of losing 11 of 13, and Montero went 2 for 13 in the first four games in place of Snyder.

Since then, he's had a hit in 15 of his last 17 contests, and batted .418 (28 for 67) in that time. In Tuesday night's 6-5 comeback win, Montero homered for the third time in four games to rally the Diamondbacks (40-54) to a 6-5 victory.

His two-run shot in the eighth gave Arizona its 10th win in the last 14 games at Coors Field. The catcher has batted .364 (8 for 22) during a six-game hit streak against the Rockies, and the Diamondbacks have won all three games in Denver this season in which he's played.

"He's doing a lot of damage when he comes up to bat," manager A.J. Hinch said. "He's zoning in on a lot of good pitches. His swing has been smooth the last couple of weeks to a month of regular playing time."

Mark Reynolds extended his 12-game hitting streak against the Rockies in Tuesday's win. Reynolds, who has batted .341 (15 for 44) in that span, doubled then sparked the winning rally with a one-out single.

Stephen Drew matched a season high with four hits and is 21 for 50 (.420) in his last 12 at Colorado. While winning nine of 14, the Diamondbacks have hit .281 to boost their average from .242 to .248, moving from 15th in the NL to a tie for 13th.

Right-hander Jon Garland (5-9, 4.45 ERA) will look for rare run support while he tries to avoid tying for the NL lead in losses.

After allowing one run over 6 2-3 innings to win his first career start over Colorado on April 20, Garland has been given 2.94 runs per game - third fewest in the NL.

He snapped a career-high six-game losing streak July 11 against Florida thanks to five runs, but received none in Friday's 6-1 loss in St. Louis. Garland has a 2.42 ERA in four outings this month.

Looking for their 32nd win in 43 games, the Rockies (51-43) will also try to maintain their NL wild-card lead behind right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (7-9, 3.82).

Jimenez broke a three-game skid Friday by striking out a season-high 10 in a 5-3 win at San Diego.

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

Jimenez has split his two starts this season against Arizona. He allowed four runs over 6 1-3 innings in a 4-3 road loss after throwing seven innings of a 3-0 win April 7.

Todd Helton, who went 2 for 3 with a double against Garland on April 20, needs another two-base hit to become the 50th player to reach 500 in his career.