• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Red-hot Rockies return home to face Cubs

Apr 15, 2011 - 2:31 PM (Sports Network) - A red-hot Colorado Rockies club will return to the friendly confines of Coors Field this evening to kick off a three-game series versus the Chicago Cubs.

The Rockies have won six in a row, are an MLB-best 10-2 on the season and completed an eight-game road trip with a sizzling 7-1 record thanks to a doubleheader sweep of the New York Mets on Thursday in the finale of a four- game series from Citi Field. They held on to win the opener by a 6-5 score and Troy Tulowitzki ended with three hits, including a home run. Carlos Gonzalez belted a two-run homer and Jose Morales doubled home a pair of runs for Colorado, which saw Greg Reynolds collect the win with five innings of two-run ball and Matt Lindstrom work out of a ninth-inning jam for his second save.

Colorado didn't need any late-game heroics to hold on in the nightcap, as it used a 13-hit barrage in a 9-4 triumph to complete the twinbill sweep. Tulowitzki homered again and Jonathan Herrera clubbed a three-run shot for the Rockies, who got three hits from Todd Helton and two RBI out of Dexter Fowler.

"I put some swings on it," said Tulowitzki, who leads the majors with seven homers. "I cant say, 'The ball looks huge' and, 'I'm going to hit everything right now,' the game's not that easy. I had a good series."

Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa went 6 2/3 innings to get the win (2-0). He gave up four runs on five hits with four walks and seven strikeouts.

Jhoulys Chacin will try to remain unbeaten on the season too when he toes the rubber for Colorado tonight. Chacin threw seven shutout innings in a win over the Dodgers on April 5, then held on for a win at Pittsburgh last Sunday. In a 6-5 triumph over the Pirates, Chacin was reached for five runs -- four earned -- and seven hits in six innings.

Chacin, a right-hander, has never started 3-0 in his career and will face the Cubs for the third time. He is 0-1 with a 4.70 earned run average in two career appearances (1 start) against Chicago.

Chicago will continue a nine-game road trip in the Rocky Mountains tonight and is 3-3 so far on the trek. It just took two of three contests in Houston and recorded a 9-5 triumph in Wednesday's series finale thanks to a five-run first inning highlighted by Alfonso Soriano's three-run homer and a two-run double from Jeff Baker.

Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano homered in the sixth inning and improved to 2-0 on the hill despite a shaky pitching performance. Zambrano allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 frames with four K's and three walks.

"It's not the first time I hit a home run," Zambrano said. "It's number 22 for me. I've been excited 22 times. I just went out there trying to do my job, like always."

Marcos Mateo, Sean Marshall, Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol kept the Astros off the board the rest of the way. Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fukudome is questionable for tonight's game with a strained left hamstring.

Matt Garza is still searching for his win in a Cubs uniform after being dealt to the club in the offseason. The former Tampa Bay Rays starter is 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA in two trips to the mound in 2011 and lost his previous outing last Saturday in Milwaukee. He allowed five runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 6-0 setback with eight strikeouts. Garza fanned 12 in his first start on April 3 versus Pittsburgh at Wrigley Field.

The right-hander faced Colorado once in career during a 4-3 loss at Coors Field back on June 18, 2009, when he was touched for four runs in five innings.

The Cubs and Rockies are squaring off for the first time since Colorado won three of five matchups a season ago. The Rockies swept a three-game series from the Cubs in Denver from July 30-August 1, and have won five straight as the host in this series.