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Lannan leads Nats into opener with Rockies

Jul 8, 2011 - 3:03 PM (Sports Network) - John Lannan puts his unbeaten streak on the line tonight, when the Washington Nationals kick off a three-game series versus the Colorado Rockies at Nationals Park.

Lannan is 3-0 with a 1.92 earned run average in his last eight starts, with the Nationals going 6-2 over that span. Lannan has recorded back-to-back no- decisions and was last in action during a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday in the nation's capital. He allowed three runs in seven innings and remained 5-5 on the season in 18 starts with a 3.50 ERA.

The lefty is 3-2 in nine home outings this season and 0-1 with a 7.48 ERA in four career starts against Colorado.

Rockies righty Jason Hammel will try to end both a three-start skid and a more prolonged slide that's resulted in losses in seven of his last eight decisions.

The South Carolina native was 3-1 on the season after his final start of April, a 4-1 defeat of Pittsburgh on April 30, but he's won only once since then while the Rockies have gone just 2-10 in the 12 subsequent games he's pitched.

He was tagged for seven hits and six runs in just 3 2/3 innings of his most recent start, a 16-8 interleague loss to Kansas City.

Hammel is 2-0 lifetime against the Nationals in four starts.

On Thursday in Atlanta, Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer to highlight a five-run third inning, as the Atlanta Braves finished off a four-game sweep of the Rockies with a 6-3 victory at Turner Field.

Jason Giambi knocked in a pair of runs for the Rockies, losers of five straight and seven of nine.

Juan Nicasio (3-2) departed after 2 1/3 innings and was charged in defeat for seven hits and five runs with three walks.

In Washington, Darwin Barney hit a two-run double to help the Chicago Cubs erase an eight-run deficit, then hit a go-ahead double in the ninth to lift them to a 10-9 victory over the Nationals.

Each of the Nationals' last 10 wins had come by one run or in extra innings, and it looked like they would be able to record a comfortable victory after building an 8-0 lead in the fourth inning.

Danny Espinosa, Michael Morse and Wilson Ramos each drove in a pair of runs, while Nationals starter Livan Hernandez gave up six runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings for the no-decision. Henry Rodriguez tossed the final two innings and gave up two runs to suffer the loss for Washington, which was aiming for a four-game sweep of the Cubs for the first time since 1997.

The Nationals and Rockies are meeting for the first time since Colorado took five of eight meetings a year ago. Colorado is 15-6 in this series since the start of the 2008 campaign.