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Diamondbacks-Rockies Preview

Sep 4, 2009 - 6:39 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Arizona (61-74) at Colorado (74-60), 9:10 p.m. EDT

The Colorado Rockies opened their current homestand on a positive note. They could be in for a challenge, however, as they begin their next series.

The wild-card leading Rockies look to bounce back from their latest loss as they face Dan Haren and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.

Colorado (74-60) lost 8-3 to New York on Thursday, but still took two of three from the struggling Mets to open a 10-game homestand that concludes with a four-game set against Cincinnati next week.

The Rockies, who have a one-game lead over San Francisco in the NL wild-card race, bounced back versus the Mets after losing a season-high five in a row heading into the homestand.

"We have to keep our attention focused," manager Jim Tracy told the Rockies' official Web site. "Each and every series we play, we need to do the very best to win it, and hopefully we can get a couple more opportunities to go along here to sweep a series."

Colorado and Arizona (61-74) have split their 12 meetings, including the six at Coors Field. The Diamondbacks fell 4-2 to former teammate Jon Garland and the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday for their second loss in eight games.

After scoring 13 runs and recording 22 hits in the first two games against the Mets, the Rockies mustered six hits Thursday.

They'll likely need to provide more production against Haren (13-8, 2.78 ERA), who's won his last two starts versus the Rockies.

The right-hander is 5-3 with a 2.84 ERA in nine starts against Colorado. Haren is 2-1 while allowing two earned runs and striking out 24 in 20 innings versus the Rockies this season.

Despite giving up three runs in seven innings to earn the victory in a 4-3 win over Houston on Sunday, Haren is 3-3 with a 5.04 ERA in his last eight starts.

Colorado's Todd Helton is batting .235 against Haren, but 12 for 24 in his last seven games overall. The veteran first baseman is hitting .356 with two homers and eight RBIs against Arizona this season.

The Rockies will turn to Jason Hammel (8-7, 4.40), who went 3-1 with a 3.63 ERA in six August starts. The right-hander allowed two runs in five innings, but didn't earn a decision in a 9-5 loss at San Francisco on Sunday.

Hammel has not allowed a run in 4 1-3 innings of relief against the Diamondbacks, but makes his first start against them in this contest.

Stephen Drew homered and Mark Reynolds drove in a run Thursday for Arizona, which split its four-game set with the NL West-leading Dodgers.

"We really couldn't string anything together," said Reynolds of his team's performance against Garland, who was traded to Los Angeles on Monday.

Drew is batting .394 with three home runs and seven RBIs against the Rockies this season. He's 10 for 19 with two of those homers at Coors.

While Reynolds is 2 for 21 over his last five games, he's hitting .341 with five of his career-high 40 homers and 10 RBIs against Colorado in 2009.