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Diamondbacks-Rockies Preview

May 26, 2010 - 5:41 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Arizona (20-25) at Colorado (22-22), 8:40 p.m. EDT

The Colorado Rockies are looking to extend their winning streak to a season-high four games. They certainly have the right person on the mound to help them accomplish that feat.

Ubaldo Jimenez can make history while looking to become the majors' first nine-game winner as the Rockies continue their home series with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.

An NL Cy Young Award candidate, Jimenez (8-1, 0.99 ERA) leads the majors in wins and ERA. He continued his dominance by allowing one hit before leg cramps forced him out after seven innings of a 4-0 win at Houston on Thursday.

The effort left Jimenez as the second major league starter in the past 90 years to begin a season with nine starts of six or more innings while giving up three or fewer runs. Now, he has a chance to tie St. Louis' Bob Tewksbury, who went 10 starts in 1992.

"He's really special," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "He's a big reason why with all the different things we've dealt with and all the different things that we are still sorting through, he's the reason why our heads are still fairly well above water. He's a big, big part of that."

Jimenez, who cited Houston's humid conditions as the reason for his cramping, appears healthy and looks to help Colorado (23-22) continue its surge. The Rockies won the final two games at Kansas City before beating Arizona 3-2 on Monday to start a stretch of 12 straight games against NL West opponents.

Jimenez improved to 3-2 with a 2.47 ERA in nine starts against Arizona after he allowed two hits in six scoreless innings of a 12-1 home win over the Diamondbacks on April 27. The right-hander has yielded one run and seven hits while striking out 14 in 13 innings over his last two starts against the Diamondbacks (20-26).

Troy Tulowitzki and Brad Hawpe each homered while Todd Helton added three hits Tuesday for the Rockies, who evened the season series with Arizona after dropping two of three to the Diamondbacks last month at Coors Field.

Helton, 12 for 30 in his last nine games, is a lifetime .342 hitter against Arizona at Coors.

Conor Jackson and Justin Upton each drove in runs Tuesday for the Diamondbacks, who managed five hits while losing their second straight after winning four in a row.

Arizona had the leadoff hitter reach in the ninth, but couldn't score.

"We had a shot, and that's what it's all about," third baseman Mark Reynolds told the Diamondbacks' official website.

Though Upton is batting .378 in his last 11 games, he went 0 for 4 in the opener and is 0 for 15 against Jimenez.

Arizona's Rodrigo Lopez (2-2, 4.42) takes the ball looking to bounce back after he gave up six runs and 10 hits in five innings but didn't factor in the decision of an 8-7 win over San Francisco on Thursday.

The right-hander was roughed up after allowing one run in eight innings of an 11-1 win at Atlanta on May 15.

Though Lopez is making his first start against the Rockies, he allowed two runs in two innings of relief against them while pitching for Philadelphia on Aug. 4.