Rockies 0 - 2 Nationals
Final
  for this game

Rockies hope to inch out another win over Nationals

Jul 10, 2011 - 2:35 PM (Sports Network) - The Rockies have been winning the close games recently and today they go for a three-game sweep against Washington at Nationals Park.

Colorado has won five in a row against the Nationals with the last four coming by a run. On Saturday, Ubaldo Jimenez threw eight innings of one-run ball to lead Colorado to a 2-1 victory.

Jimenez (4-8) retired the first 13 batters he faced, allowing five hits and a walk, and also reached two franchise milestones in the game.

The win was the 54th of his career, moving him past Pedro Astacio and into fourth place alone on the franchise victory list. Also, with his eight strikeouts, Jimenez became the franchise leader with 750, passing Astacio's 749.

Jim Tracy earned his 200th victory with the Rockies, becoming the third manager in franchise history to reach the mark after Don Baylor (440) and Clint Hurdle (534).

"I'm 100 percent now. Everything is back to normal. I just had to find a way to keep the speed and location at the same time," Jimenez said about his recent performances.

Huston Street worked out of a jam in the ninth to earn his 26th save and give the Rockies their second straight win after a season-high five-game losing streak.

Jason Marquis (7-4) allowed two runs on five hits and four walks through six innings as the Nationals dropped their third consecutive contest -- all by one run.

Jhoulys Chacin tries to win for the first time in four starts when he takes the mound this afternoon for Colorado. He has gone five innings in each of his last two outings, but has lost both times, allowing a total of 10 runs. His most recent loss came at Atlanta on Tuesday.

Opposing batters have had a difficult time against the right-hander. Chacin's .203 opponents batting average is among the best in the National League. He lost his only career start against the Nationals, allowing six runs over five innings May 13 last year.

Jordan Zimmermann is also winless over his last three starts, but hasn't given up an earned run in two of those outings. Most recently, he yielded eight hits and four runs over six innings in a no-decision against the Cubs on Monday. This will be his second appearance versus the Rockies.

The Nationals and Rockies are meeting for the first time since Colorado took five of eight meetings a year ago. Colorado is 17-6 in this series since the start of the 2008 campaign.






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