• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Rockies-Giants Preview

Aug 29, 2009 - 6:40 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Colorado (72-56) at San Francisco (69-59), 9:05 p.m. EDT

Another key series against their closest pursuer may have been seen as a perfect chance for the Colorado Rockies to expand their lead for the NL wild card. Instead, they've seen it shrink.

Jason Marquis will try to help the Rockies create a little breathing room on the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night.

The Rockies (72-57) led the wild-card race by a season-high four games over San Francisco (70-59) after they took two of three from the NL West rival at Denver, capped by Monday's 6-4, 14-inning win.

Colorado, however, has won only once in four games since, and Friday's 2-0 loss in the opener of this three-game set at AT&T Park was its third straight defeat overall.

"I wish I could create a way where we could win this game but when you get no runs you don't have a chance to win," manager Jim Tracy said.

The Rockies, who have been outscored 11-3 during the slide, are in position to match their longest losing streak of the season for a second time. They last dropped four straight from May 31-June 3, when they were 20-32 and in danger of falling out of the playoff race early.

Their current losing streak has also seen their wild-card lead reduced to two games in front of the Giants. Colorado is also four games back of division-leading Los Angeles.

Marquis (14-8, 3.47 ERA) will take the mound attempting to match his career high in wins set with St. Louis in 2004.

The right-hander is 2-0 with a 2.14 ERA in his last three starts and is currently one victory behind CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees and the Cardinals' Adam Wainwright for the most in baseball.

Marquis was outstanding in Monday's win over the Giants, yielding one run in eight innings while getting just one run of support.

The 10-year veteran, who was named to his first All-Star game last month, has been just as effective in six career starts at San Francisco, going 4-1 with a 1.97 ERA. He won his last start there May 2, throwing a five-hitter in a 5-1 victory.

Barry Zito (8-11, 4.09) will take the mound for San Francisco looking to gain some inspiration from Tim Lincecum's terrific performance Friday. The ace - and reigning NL Cy Young Award winner - allowed four runs with eight strikeouts in eight innings before Brian Wilson threw a perfect ninth to get the save.

"We're coming down the stretch here to the last month," Lincecum said. "These are really big games. We've got to buckle down."

Zito might prefer a little help after going 0-1 with a 1.59 ERA in his last three trips to the mound while getting just one run of support. In four prior starts, he had received 16 total runs of help while posting a 3-0 mark and 2.19 ERA.

The left-hander labored at times opposite Marquis on Monday, allowing one unearned run and walking a season-high six while throwing 105 pitches in six innings.

Not getting support has been a theme for Zito in four starts against the Rockies at San Francisco, where he's gone 0-1 with a 1.55 ERA while the offense has totaled four runs.