Diamondbacks 10 - 7 Rockies
Final
  for this game

D-Backs continue march towards division title in Colorado

Sep 5, 2011 - 2:58 PM

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(Sports Network) - The Arizona Diamondbacks successfully padded their lead atop the National League West standings this past weekend and look to extend that advantage this afternoon in the opener of a three-game set at Colorado.

Arizona just won two of three meetings in San Francisco to grab a seven-game edge over the Giants for the division lead and recorded a 4-1 win in Sunday's series finale. Ryan Roberts homered and Willie Bloomquist posted two hits and two RBI for the D'Backs, who have won 11 of 12 overall.

"This obviously is a big series, nice to come out of here with winning two out of three," said Bloomquist. "But we go and play a very capable good Colorado team so we still have to play one game at a time, and still keep trying to figure out ways to win games and numbers will take care of themselves in the end so we've got to play good baseball."

Daniel Hudson held the Giants in check by allowing only one run and three hits in seven innings of work. David Hernandez tossed a scoreless eighth and J.J. Putz notched his 36th save in the ninth. D'Backs outfielder Justin Upton was ejected during the fourth inning of Sunday's game for arguing balls and strikes with home-plate umpire Brian Knight.

"To be honest with you, I was going to go back to the dugout and put my helmet down and my bat down and move on," Upton said on the club's website. "But I felt something was being said to me from behind and I didn't agree with it. It's just a disagreement."

The D'Backs can agree that young starter Wade Miley has been a pleasant surprise this season and he'll make his fourth career start Monday. Miley has won back-to-back outings and is 2-1 with a 3.94 ERA in three starts. He last took the hill in Tuesday's 9-4 win over the Rockies and held them to a pair of runs in six innings.

Miley is 1-1 in two road starts this season, having lost at Atlanta on Aug. 20 before beating the Nationals five days later.

Colorado will begin a six-game homestand Monday versus the Diamondbacks and Reds, and went 3-6 on a nine-game road trip through Los Angeles, Arizona and San Diego.

In Sunday's 7-2 loss against the Padres, Dexter Fowler had three hits and Seth Smith drove in a run for the Rockies.

"He's driving the ball. He's hitting the ball hard," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said of Fowler's approach at the plate. "He had a very good series and had another very good day today. He created opportunities for us to score runs."

The Rockies received six innings of three-run ball out of losing pitcher Aaron Cook and hope Esmil Rogers can break out of his recent funk. Rogers has lost two straight and three of four starts and is coming off Wednesday's 4-2 loss at Arizona in which he allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings.

Rogers, a right-hander, has yielded four runs in each of his last four starts and is 6-4 with a 5.94 ERA in 13 games (10 starts) this season. In five career games, two of which have been starts, against the D'Backs, Rogers is 0-1 with a 4.96 ERA.

Arizona has dominated the 2011 series with the Rockies by an 11-4 margin and has won five straight in the series. Colorado has a slight advantage with its current five-game overall winning streak at Coors Field.






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