• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Rockies shoot for series win in the desert

May 5, 2011 - 2:21 PM (Sports Network) -The Colorado Rockies are shooting for a rare road series win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, as the two NL West inhabitants collide tonight at Chase Field in the finale of a three-game set.

Colorado's last series win in the desert was from Sept. 18-20, 2009, when Jason Hammel and Ubaldo Jimenez recorded victories in the last two tests of the set. Hammel is slated to take the hill Thursday, one day after the Rockies posted a 6-4 triumph behind seven innings of two-run ball from Jhoulys Chacin.

Chacin scattered three hits, struck out six and walked four batters to push his record to 4-2. Matt Belisle, Matt Reynolds and Huston Street went the rest of the way to preserve the win, with Street notching his 11th save. Street is tied with two other players for the major league lead in saves.

Chris Iannetta belted a two-run homer and Todd Helton added two RBI and a pair of runs scored for the NL West-leading Rockies, who ended a two-game slide and won for the fourth time in seven tries.

"I was trying to get a good pitch to hit," Iannetta said of his blast off of D'Backs starter Barry Enright. "He left a curveball high and I was able to put a good swing on it."

Colorado is 11-4 away from Coors Field and will visit San Francisco for three games over the weekend. Taking the hill tonight for the Rox will be Hammel, a winner in two straight and three of his first five starts this season. Hammel has allowed only one run in each of his past two outings and threw seven innings of one-run ball in Saturday's 4-1 win over Pittsburgh.

Hammel is 3-1 with a 3.23 earned run average and will face Arizona for the seventh time in his career. In six meetings (4 starts) with the D'Backs, the right-hander owns a 3-1 mark to go along with a pedestrian 4.56 ERA.

Arizona had a modest two-game winning stopped last night and lost for the third in time in the past five contests. Enright was pounded for six runs and six hits in five innings, but managed to hit a solo home run for the D'Backs, who got solo homers from Kelly Johnson and Juan Miranda as well.

"Four walks and three runs scored," Enright said, "other than that I pitched OK. It's just unfortunate and how it goes sometimes."

The Diamondbacks are 5-4 on a 10-game homestand and will kick off a nine-game trip against NL West opponents on Friday in San Diego. They are also scheduled to visit the Giants and Dodgers.

Toeing the rubber for Arizona in tonight's series finale will be Ian Kennedy, who is 3-1 with a 3.92 earned run average in six starts this season. Kennedy struck out 10 batters during a three-hit shutout versus Philadelphia on April 25, then did not record a decision the last time out on Saturday with Chicago in town.

Kennedy allowed three runs and six hits with six K's in the 5-3 loss to the Cubs. The right-hander made his 2011 debut at Colorado on April 1 in a 7-6 victory and was reached for four runs -- three earned -- in six innings for a no-decision. He is 0-1 with a 3.66 ERA in six career starts against Colorado.

The Rockies and Diamondbacks split a rain-shortened series to kick off the new season in Denver. Arizona has won five of the last seven meetings between the NL West foes.