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Halos pay a visit to Coors Field

Jun 8, 2012 - 3:05 PM (Sports Network) - One of the things that Albert Pujols had to make sure he packed for the Angels' upcoming road trip was his third base glove.

With Los Angeles set to play six straight in National League parks, Pujols is expected to see some time at the hot corner. That move across the diamond could begin this evening in the opener of a three-game set against the Colorado Rockies.

With the Angels set to lose their designated hitter spot, manager Mike Scioscia will move Pujols over to third in an effort to keep Kendrys Morales' bat in the lineup. Morales has three homers and five RBI in his last three games, going deep and driving in three runs in Wednesday's loss to the Mariners.

Jerome Williams struggled in the start, allowing seven runs -- five earned -- on nine hits in 5 2/3 frames of action to take the loss.

"We have to keep setting the table," said Scioscia. "There was more we could do offensively, but this wasn't an offensive let down. We had leads and couldn't hold it."

Morales is slated to see some time at first base on this road trip, the position he manned up until he broke his left ankle in May of 2010.

Scioscia will hope that moving Pujols across the diamond won't impact his recent performance at the plate. After struggling in his transition to the American League, Pujols is batting .316 over his last 25 games with seven homers and 20 RBI. He is career .285 hitter at Coors Field with nine homers and 32 RBI.

Hoping to avoid a fourth loss in five games, the Angels turn to streaking starter C.J. Wilson tonight.

The left-hander is 2-0 with a 0.45 earned run average over his past three outings, allowing just one run in that span. Wilson was denied a third straight victory on Saturday versus the Rangers despite six scoreless innings of five-hit ball.

Wilson is 6-4 with a 2.54 ERA in 12 starts this season, and with his next victory he will become the seventh active pitcher with at least 50 victories and 50 saves.

The 31-year-old is set to face the Rockies for the first time in his career and is 3-5 with a 4.10 ERA in 39 career interleague appearances, including nine starts.

The Rockies try to avoid a third straight loss tonight after stumbling over the final two contests of their recent series with the Diamondbacks. After taking Monday' opener 4-0 for its seventh victory in eight games, Colorado was outscored 16-1 over back-to-back losses.

That includes a 6-1 defeat on Wednesday as starter Josh Outman was tagged for five runs on seven hits over just three innings to lose in his second start of the season.

"You name it, and I pretty much did it wrong tonight," Outman said.

Colorado looks to rebound tonight behind Alex White, who is coming off one of his better outings with the Rockies.

White has won a pair of decisions over three starts since dropping his first three of the campaign. He has given up 12 runs in 17 2/3 frames of his unbeaten streak, but pitched well on Sunday versus the Dodgers.

The righty allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings on just two hits as well as five walks in a 3-2 win.

"(White) jammed left-handed hitters with his four-seamer, he got the two- seamer in on right handers, broke bats, got ground balls," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "A lot of what you see today is what he's capable of on a regular basis once we get to that point."

White faced the Angels as a member of the Cleveland Indians last season before getting dealt to the Rockies. The 23-year-old picked up a win in what was his second career start, giving up three runs over six innings.

The Angels and Rockies haven't met in Colorado since a three-game sweep by Los Angeles in 2001. These clubs have played nine times in Anaheim since, with the Angels winning five of those.