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Rockies welcome Dodgers to Coors Field

Jun 9, 2011 - 3:10 PM (Sports Network) - A pair of middle-of-the-pack National League West Division rivals get together for the first of four games tonight when the Los Angeles Dodgers head to Coors Field to meet the host Colorado Rockies.

Just one game separates the two teams in the tightly-bunched division, with the Rockies holding onto third place, just ahead of the Dodgers in fourth.

Colorado, which closed out a series win Wednesday in San Diego, is 5 1/2 games in back of front-running San Francisco, while Los Angeles is 6 1/2 behind the Giants and a game ahead of the fifth-place Padres.

The Dodgers had a string of three straight series wins snapped on Wednesday in Philadelphia, when Cole Hamels handled business on the mound and Ryan Howard provided half the offense with a home run, as the Phillies took the rubber match of the series, 2-0.

Hiroki Kuroda (5-7) surrendered Howard's homer, the only run he allowed in his otherwise solid 5 1/3-inning start. He was pulled after throwing 93 pitches, having allowed four hits and three walks to go with seven strikeouts.

Meanwhile, in San Diego, Todd Helton finished with four hits, including a home run, and three runs scored, while Troy Tulowitzki had a two-run double in the ninth frame, as Colorado edged the Padres, 5-3, at Petco Park.

Colorado's two-spot in the ninth made a winner of Matt Lindstrom (1-1), who worked around two hits to throw a scoreless frame.

Aaron Cook made his first start of the season after suffering a fractured right fibula last September, allowing three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and four walks over 5 2/3 frames.

Cook was shut down at the beginning of spring training with a sore shoulder and broke a finger on his pitching hand in March. The Rockies won their first three-game series since taking two of three from the Cubs in mid-April (April 15-17).

Streaking lefty Clayton Kershaw gets the starting call for Los Angeles on Thursday with a chance to extend his personal win streak to five.

The 23-year-old, a first-round draft pick in 2006, was 2-3 on the season after a 4-2 loss to the Marlins in Florida, but has since gone 4-0 in seven starts while paring his earned run average from 3.52 to 3.05.

He struck out 10 in a shutout of the Marlins for his most recent win on May 29, then went 6 2/3 innings and got a no-decision in the Dodgers' 11-8 defeat of Chicago on June 4.

Kershaw, who is 5-4 in 14 career starts against Colorado, was beaten, 3-0, by the Rockies on April 5 after allowing six hits and three runs over six innings in Denver.

The hosts counter with right-hander Juan Nicasio, who'll make the third start of his inaugural season in the majors.

The 24-year-old Dominican debuted on May 28 and defeated St. Louis, 15-4, after allowing just six hits and an unearned run over seven innings.

He was beaten, 3-1, in a subsequent start on June 3 in San Francisco after surrendering nine hits and three runs in six innings.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder was 5-1 in nine starts at Triple-A Tulsa this spring, allowing 48 hits and 15 runs in 56 2/3 innings.

The Rockies have won three of five versus the Dodgers this year, including a two-game sweep at home from April 5-6.