• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Mets-Rockies Preview

Sep 2, 2009 - 5:53 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

New York (59-72) at Colorado (72-59), 8:40 p.m. EDT

Colorado hopes it will benefit after Oakland gave up on Jason Giambi. The Rockies must certainly already be pleased that the A's decided to part with Carlos Gonzalez.

A day after ending their longest skid of the year and adding Giambi to their active roster, the Rockies and Gonzalez look to put together another outstanding game at the plate when they face the New York Mets on Wednesday night.

Colorado (73-59) had lost a season-high five straight before winning the opener of this three-game set 8-3 on Tuesday night. The Rockies scored 11 runs in their entire five-game skid.

In an attempt to give its lineup a boost, Colorado called up Giambi from Triple-A Colorado Springs on Tuesday. The former AL MVP signed a minor league contract with the Rockies on Aug. 24, 17 days after Oakland released him.

Giambi, 38, hit .193 with 11 home runs and 40 RBI in 83 games for the Athletics. He'll be used as a left-handed power hitter off the bench and could give Todd Helton a breather at first base if necessary as Colorado tries to hold on to a one-game lead over San Francisco in the wild-card race.

He made his NL debut in the seventh inning Tuesday as a pinch hitter against the Mets (59-73), drawing a four-pitch walk with the bases loaded.

"I'm excited to be here, come and just fit in, be part of a team, especially a team in the pennant race and as great a team as they have clubhouse-wise," Giambi said.

Giambi could provide some of the power the Rockies lost when they traded Matt Holliday to Oakland this past offseason. Colorado, though, is starting to reap some benefits from that trade, as Gonzalez continues to play an important role in the team's success.

Gonzalez hit four homers in 302 at-bats with the A's in 2008, then was sent to the Rockies as part of the deal for Holliday. Colorado called up Gonzalez from the minors June 5, and the 23-year-old center fielder is starting to live up to his potential.

Gonzalez homered Tuesday, giving him eight in his last 26 games. He is batting .377 with 16 RBIs during that span, and the Rockies are 45-17 in games in which he has played.

New York got one of its top run producers back Tuesday, activating All-Star David Wright from the 15-day disabled list. Wright, batting .324, went 1 for 3 in his first game since getting hit in the head by a pitch from San Francisco's Matt Cain on Aug. 15.

Wright's return from a concussion is little solace for an injury-depleted New York team that expected to be in playoff contention.

The Mets, who have lost 22 of 33, will face Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez (12-10, 3.33 ERA).

The right-hander is 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA over his last six starts, but had a career-best five-game winning streak snapped in his last outing. He gave up two runs in seven innings of Colorado's 2-0 loss at San Francisco on Friday night.

Jimenez has won three straight at home, posting a 1.19 ERA and striking out 21 in 22 2-3 innings. He's 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in three starts versus the Mets.

New York will counter with Tim Redding (2-4, 5.94), who earned a win in his second start since rejoining the rotation, allowing three runs in 6 2-3 innings of a 10-3 victory over Florida on Thursday.

The veteran right-hander is 1-2 with a 4.40 ERA in five career starts against the Rockies.