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Braves and Rox continue set in Denver

Jul 20, 2011 - 2:40 PM (Sports Network) - The Atlanta Braves took one on the jaw last night at Coors Field and lost a game in the race for top billing in the National League East.

Atlanta will need more production from its pitching staff tonight in the third contest of a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies. Brandon Beachy was in trouble early when Troy Tulowitzki cracked a three-run homer in the first inning of Tuesday's 12-3 decision and allowed six runs and nine hits over 4 2/3 innings. Cory Gearrin yielded four runs in an inning of work and Scott Proctor was reached for two more.

Beachy was asked after the game if the high altitude at Coors Field played a role in his shoddy performance.

"I don't think this place has anything to do with that," Beachy said. "I struggled with my slider in Philadelphia and again today. I was just getting around it a little bit and trying to overthrow it to compensate for getting around it."

Dan Uggla hit a pair of home runs to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Freddie Freeman went 1-for-4 with a double one day after recording three hits, including a home run, three RBI and two runs scored in a 7-4 series-opening win. Atlanta is 3 ? games behind the Phillies for the NL East lead and lost for just the fifth time in 18 tries.

With Jason Heyward still bothered by a foot injury, it's been up to Uggla and Freeman lately to carry the offensive load for the Wild Card-leading Braves.

Ace Tim Hudson has won three straight starts and is 4-0 with a 1.83 earned run average in his last five appearances. Hudson looks to keep his streak alive tonight against the Rockies -- a team he defeated on July 7 at Turner Field. In the 6-3 triumph over the Rockies, Hudson lasted 7 1/3 innings and allowed three runs and five hits with three strikeouts and three walks. He is 4-2 in seven career starts against Colorado and 0-2 with a 10.20 ERA lifetime in the Rocky Mountains.

Hudson was last in action during an 11-1 rout of Washington last Friday, as he delivered seven innings of one-run ball with seven K's and one walk. He is 9-6 with a 3.44 ERA in 19 outings this season and 3-3 in seven road starts. The veteran right-hander is targeting the 175th win of his career and has lasted at least six innings in five straight trips to the hill.

Colorado ended a three-game slide in a big way with 14 hits, with Tulowitzki and Dexter Fowler ending with three hits and three RBI apiece. Seth Smith drove in three runs and Carlos Gonzalez homered for the Rockies, who are still 10 ? games off the lead in the NL West and improved to 3-3 on an eight-game homestand.

"We need to get hot, this is the chance for us," Gonzalez said. "This is when the Rockies play better baseball, at the end of the season. We still have a lot of games left and have to prove to people we're a really good team."

Starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez pushed aside all of the latest trade rumors by holding Atlanta to a pair of runs over 6 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts.

Rockies first-year starter Juan Nicasio is making a case for a permanent role in the rotation. He'll try to do some more convincing when he takes the hill tonight against the Braves and is 4-2 with a pedestrian 4.24 ERA in nine starts this season. Nicasio has won three of his past four decisions and tossed seven scoreless innings in last Friday's 4-0 win over Milwaukee.

"I work every day on throwing my breaking ball for a strike," Nicasio said on Colorado's site. "Today I threw my breaking ball for a strike. I threw my slider better than last time. I'm concentrating on throwing my slider down in the zone for a strike."

Nicasio struck out four batters, allowed four hits and did not walk a batter to push his home record to 4-0 in five chances with a 1.64 ERA. He lost in Atlanta on July 7 in a 6-3 defeat and gave up five runs and seven hits over a career-low 2 1/3 innings.

Atlanta swept a four-game series versus Colorado from July 4-7, but the Rockies have won five of six in this series as the host.