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Brewers-Rockies Preview

Jun 19, 2010 - 5:53 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Milwaukee (28-38) at Colorado (34-32), 8:10 p.m. EDT

On the heels of another injury to a key member of its lineup, Colorado might be forced to scrape for runs over the next few weeks.

The Rockies could certainly find themselves in that position while trying for a third consecutive victory Saturday night against Yovani Gallardo and the visiting Milwaukee Brewers.

Hours after Colorado (35-32) learned shortstop Troy Tulowitzki will miss about six weeks with a broken left wrist, it received 7 1-3 strong innings from Jason Hammel and managed enough offense to beat Milwaukee 2-0 on Friday.

Third in the NL West, the Rockies are four games behind first-place San Diego. Moving up in the standings could be tough without Tulowitzki, who's hitting .306 with nine homers and 34 RBIs.

"Every little detail is vitally important," manager Jim Tracy said. "Let's face it: It magnifies itself when you've lost a chunk of offense like that, and a very, very special player."

Colorado could get some help in the form of outfielder Carlos Gonzalez - the team leader with 10 homers and 42 RBIs - who may play Saturday after he missed the series opener with a jammed knee.

"We're much closer on him, as far as getting him back on the field than maybe we initially anticipated," Tracy said.

Brad Hawpe doubled twice and drove in a run Friday as the Rockies won their fourth straight at home. Hawpe is 4 for 6 in his last two games after going 0 for 16 in his previous five.

He's 2 for 9 with a double and homer off Gallardo (6-3, 2.66 ERA), who didn't fare well in his only previous outing at Coors Field. Then a rookie, Gallardo allowed 11 runs and 12 hits in 2 2-3 innings of a 19-4 loss at Colorado on Aug. 8, 2007.

"Obviously it didn't go well," said the right-hander, who is 0-3 with a 9.82 ERA as a starter against the Rockies.

Gallardo had his six-game overall winning streak snapped Sunday, when he yielded four runs and four walks in six innings of a 7-2 loss to Texas.

Colorado's Jeff Francis opposed Gallardo in his last trip to Coors, and will do the same Saturday while looking to build on his first home win of the season. Francis (2-2, 3.29) avoided a third consecutive defeat when he allowed three runs in seven innings of a 10-3 victory over Toronto on Sunday.

It was a significant step forward for the left-hander, who missed last season after undergoing shoulder surgery.

"At this point in time I don't think we've seen the best of him just yet," Tracy told the Rockies' official website. "We're working toward that."

Francis is 2-3 with a 7.76 lifetime ERA against the Brewers.

Milwaukee (28-39), which opened its six-game trip by scoring 19 runs in two straight wins over the Los Angeles Angels, has now gone 15 consecutive innings without a run.

Friday's loss was the Brewers' fourth straight at Coors Field and their 10th in 11 games there.

Though his team has struggled in Denver, Ryan Braun had two of Milwaukee's 10 hits Friday and is a .342 career hitter in 10 games at Coors. He's 4 for 8 with two homers against Francis.