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Braves hope to break brooms out on Rockies

Jul 7, 2011 - 3:08 PM (Sports Network) - The Atlanta Braves go for a four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies this afternoon at Turner Field.

The Braves have been on a roll, winning three straight and 13 of 16 games, and recorded a 9-1 drubbing of the Rockies last night behind six strong innings from Jair Jurrjens and home runs by Chipper Jones and Dan Uggla. Jordan Schafer posted four hits, an RBI and a run scored for Atlanta, which pulled within three games of NL East-leading Philadelphia in the standings.

"The first couple innings I was cruising along, then I lost a little bit of the strike zone in the middle part," said Jurrjens, who is the only NL pitcher with 12 wins. "They made it difficult on me, taking pitches, fouling them off. I did end up making the pitches I needed to get out of trouble when I needed to."

Atlanta is 5-1 on a seven-game homestand and will visit Philadelphia for three games over the weekend.

Taking the mound for the Braves today will be veteran Tim Hudson, who is 3-1 with a 2.10 earned run average in his last five starts since going 0-3 in his previous five appearances. In a 5-4 win over Baltimore on Saturday, Hudson allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings to hold on for the win and lift his season record to 7-6 with a 3.57 ERA.

Hudson has lasted at least six innings in three straight and five of his last seven journeys to the hill. The right-hander is 4-3 in 10 home starts this season and has faced Colorado six times in his career, going 3-2 with a 4.86 ERA in that stretch.

Colorado has lost four in a row overall and six straight away from the Rocky Mountains. Matt Pagnozzi had two hits and an RBI for the Rockies, who received a rough outing from Aaron Cook. Cook suffered the loss for giving up seven runs and 10 hits in five innings.

The Rockies were without sluggers Carlos Gonzalez (wrist) and Troy Tulowitzki (quad). Gonzalez could possibly return today after taking light batting practice.

"Let's face it ... right now we're undermanned," noted Rockies manager Jim Tracy. "The big key for us, moving forward will be how we handle this because I think we're getting closer to getting some pieces back. Even when we do, it's very important that we pitch better from a starting-pitcher standpoint."

Colorado will visit Washington for three games this weekend.

Rockies hard-throwing rookie Juan Nicasio will make his eighth career start this afternoon and is 3-1 with a 4.10 ERA over the first seven starts. Nicasio threw a career-best eight shutout innings of three-hit ball in last Friday's 9-0 drubbing of Kansas City and struck out four batters.

Nicasio ended a string of consecutive no-decisions and caught the eye of Rockies manager Jim Tracy.

"The command that you saw was very similar to his first start against the Cardinals," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "He just pounded his fastball down in the zone for strikes. It was effective enough that his breaking stuff in the strike zone was playing off of his fastball. He was jamming guys and his fastball was pitched to both sides of the plate."

The righty is 0-1 in three road starts with a not-so-stellar 7.47 ERA. He will face the Braves for the first time in his career.

Colorado and Atlanta are meeting for the first time since the Rockies won four of six matchups a year ago. The Braves, who have outscored Colorado 18-5 in the first three games, haven't swept the Rockies in four games since May 6-9, 1993.