• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Rockies, Mets begin series at Coors Field

May 9, 2011 - 2:50 PM (Sports Network) - Currently enduring their longest losing streak of the season, the Colorado Rockies are probably pretty happy to see the New York Mets coming to town for the opener of a three-game set at Coors Field.

The Rockies try to halt a four-game slide tonight with a fifth victory in as many meetings with the Mets this year.

Colorado returns home off a 1-5 road swing and ended the trek by getting swept in three games by the National League West rival San Francisco Giants. The Rockies managed just three hits in Sunday's 3-0 setback, getting two from catcher Chris Iannetta.

Jorge De La Rosa took the loss after giving up three runs over six innings, falling to 4-1 on the season.

Colorado has now lost 12 of its last 19 since starting the season 11-2.

"You go along during the course of a six-month season and you step into a pot hole periodically, and obviously we've stepped into one," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "As we move forward we'll find out the mettle of our club."

The Rox hit just .216 and averaged only 2.7 runs per game over a 1-5 road trip, but now return home for eight in a row. That starts with three straight versus the Mets, who Colorado swept back in New York from April 11-14. The Rockies hit .290 in that series and averaged 6.8 runs per game.

Jhoulys Chacin did not make a start in that series for the Rockies, but takes the hill for tonight's opener. The right-hander halted a two-start slide on Wednesday with a win at Arizona, yielding two runs on three hits and four walks over seven innings of a 6-4 triumph.

Chacin, 23, is a solid 4-2 on the season with a 2.85 earned run average in six starts and will make his first ever start versus the Mets, who he has faced once before in relief.

New York hurler Chris Capuano did face Colorado back in April, taking a loss in the nightcap of a doubleheader after giving up seven runs over 5 2/3 innings in what has so far been his worst outing of the season. The left- hander gave up a solo homer to Troy Tulowitzki, while Dexter Fowler had two hits and a pair of RBI off Capuano, who fell to 4-4 with a 3.79 ERA lifetime against Colorado.

The 32-year-old is 2-3 with a 5.40 ERA in seven games (five starts) overall this year and is coming off a tough-luck loss to Tim Lincecum and the Giants last Wednesday. Though Capuano was charged with just two runs over 6 1/3 innings, he lost a 2-0 decision.

"A game like tonight, we had them on the ropes a couple of times but he [Lincecum] stepped up in those situations too. He seemed to get stronger as the game went on, so you tip your hat," Capuano said.

New York won three in a row following that loss, but failed to secure a three- game sweep of the Dodgers with Sunday's 4-2 setback. Ronny Paulino and Jose Reyes each drove in a run for the Mets, while R.A. Dickey gave up four runs -- three earned -- on 10 hits over seven full frames to suffer the loss.

"I have to always weigh the ways I'm giving up runs, and I can't be too disappointed," Dickey said. "I had a fairly good knuckleball today, and I kept us in it against one of the best pitchers in the National League."

The Mets open a six-game road trip with this series.