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Jul 31, 2009 - 4:40 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Colorado (54-46) at Cincinnati (45-55), 7:10 p.m. EDT

The Colorado Rockies have finally ended their scoring drought. They haven't needed many runs when Aaron Cook has taken the mound on the road in recent weeks.

Cook looks to win his sixth straight start away from Coors Field as the Rockies open a three-game series with the stumbling Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.

Colorado (55-47) beat the New York Mets 4-2 on Thursday night after losing the opener of a day-night doubleheader 7-0. The Rockies ended their 27-inning scoreless streak in the sixth when Troy Tulowitzki scored on Ryan Spilborghs' single.

"It was a big win, one of our bigger ones," Tulowitzki said.

Cook's pitching has certainly taken some pressure off Colorado's lineup. The right-handed sinkerballer has won a career-best five straight road starts, posting a 1.29 ERA over that span.

He's 2-0 with a 2.86 ERA in three career starts and one relief appearance at Cincinnati.

Cook (10-3, 3.87 ERA) earned a win at home Sunday, giving up two runs and nine hits in seven innings of Colorado's 4-2 win over San Francisco.

While the Rockies may have ended their offensive slide, the Reds (45-56) have been having their own problems at the plate, scoring three runs or fewer in eight of their last 16 games.

Cincinnati has lost nine of its last 10 and 11 of 14 since the All-Star break to fall a season-worst 11 games under .500. The Reds lost the final three contests of a four-game set with San Diego - the worst club in the NL West - including a 7-4 defeat Thursday.

Adam Rosales provided a bright spot for the Reds, hitting a three-run pinch-hit homer. It was the first home run in the last 105 at-bats for the rookie third baseman, who said Cincinnati must continue to play hard even though it's fallen to fifth place in the NL Central.

"It's definitely a grind," Rosales said. "You've got to be able to show up every day. The key here is to stay together as a team. At the beginning of the season, the hitters were picking up the pitchers and the pitchers were picking up the hitters. That's how it works. In order to be successful, that's how it has to happen. We still have two months left. That's a lot of games - a lot of opportunities to make strides."

The Reds are going to need improved pitching in order to make a run. They have a 6.54 ERA over their last 10 games.

With Micah Owings (shoulder) on the disabled list, Cincinnati has called up Justin Lehr from Triple-A Louisville to make his first major league start Friday.

Lehr hasn't pitched in the major leagues since 2006, when he went 2-1 with an 8.62 ERA in 16 relief appearances for Milwaukee. The right-hander was 8-1 with a 2.51 ERA in 11 starts and one relief appearance this season with Louisville.

Lehr's only previous appearance against Colorado was in relief, giving up one run and four hits in two innings for the Brewers in an 11-2 loss Aug. 15, 2005.

The Rockies went 5-1 against the Reds last season, averaging 6.5 runs in those contests.