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Rockies-Marlins Preview

Jul 22, 2010 - 4:09 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Colorado (51-42) at Florida (45-48), 12:10 p.m. EDT

The Marlins already made sure Colorado will go a third straight season without winning a series in Florida. Their ace Josh Johnson can now prevent the Rockies from salvaging a four-game split.

The All-Star right-hander tries for a third straight victory both overall and against the Rockies on Thursday afternoon.

A Cy Young Award candidate, Johnson (10-3, 1.62 ERA) has the majors' lowest ERA and has not allowed a run in his last 15 innings. He scattered seven hits and struck out seven in six innings of a 2-0 win over Washington on Saturday.

"You just go out there and give your team a chance to win," Johnson told the Marlins' official website. "That's all you can do. You can't do anything else. You can't do anything more. When you try to do more, that's when you might get yourself in trouble."

After Colorado (51-43) totaled 18 runs while splitting the first two games of this set, the Marlins held the Rockies to five hits in their 5-2 victory Wednesday. Florida (46-48) has won four of five.

Colorado, which has dropped five of seven, won't have it easy against Johnson, 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA as a starter against the Rockies. The Rockies have not won a road series against the Marlins since 2007, going 4-6 at Sun Life Stadium since.

Dexter Fowler, Brad Hawpe and Seth Smith are the only members of the Rockies' active roster with hits against Johnson. Smith hit a two-run homer Wednesday, and is 5 for 9 in the series.

The Rockies could be without outfielder Carlos Gonzalez after he left Wednesday's game with a bruised left finger. Gonzalez is batting .305, but is 1 for 12 with six strikeouts in his last three games.

Colorado's Jorge De La Rosa (3-2, 6.16) tries to avoid a third straight rough start since returning from a finger injury that sidelined him for more than two months.

The left-hander has given up seven runs in each of his first two outings since coming off the DL. He yielded five walks and four hits - three homers - in 3 1-3 innings of an 8-1 loss at Cincinnati on Saturday.

"I can pitch better than that, and I will be better than that because I'll keep working hard and try to help my team," De La Rosa told the Rockies' official website. "I'm not going to put pressure on myself. I've just got to go out there and throw my game. That's going to happen."

De La Rosa is 3-4 with a 6.43 ERA in seven starts versus Florida. In his April 25 outing - his last before going on the disabled list - he allowed two runs and struck out six in five innings of an 8-4 home win over the Marlins.

Jorge Cantu, 4 for 9 with a home run against De La Rosa, had two hits with an RBI on Wednesday for the Marlins. Gaby Sanchez hit a three-run homer, extending his career-high total to 10.