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Nats' Gonzalez takes on Rockies for first time

Jun 26, 2012 - 3:03 PM (Sports Network) - Gio Gonzalez has been stingy with the longball all season.

He hopes that trend continues in his first ever trip to Coors Field, where the Washington Nationals play the second contest of a four-game series with the Colorado Rockies.

Gonzalez has been tagged for just one home run over 84 2/3 innings this season and none in his last six outings. He has also yielded three runs or less in 13 consecutive starts since his rough Nationals debut on April 7.

The left-hander has split four decisions since a five-start win streak and is coming off a win over the Rays on Thursday. He hurled six innings and scattered two runs on seven hits and two walks, improving to 9-3 with a 2.55 earned run average on the season.

Gonzalez, 26, is 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA in seven road starts this year and in addition to visiting Coors Field for the first time, he has never before faced the Rockies.

Christian Friedrich gets the start for the Rockies, who continue to go with a four-man rotation that sees their hurlers limited to 75 pitches.

Friedrich threw 49 of his 73 pitches last Friday in Texas for strikes, but saw his losing streak reach three straight starts with a 4-1 decision. The left- hander was decent with six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, two homers and a walk.

The 24-year-old fell to 4-4 with a 5.65 ERA in nine starts during his rookie campaign, including a 1-2 mark and 12.60 ERA in three outings at home. That includes a loss to the Angels on June 10 in which he allowed eight earned runs over four frames to begin his current slide.

Friedrich will be facing the Nationals for the first time.

Colorado went into last night's opener having lost six of eight, but secured a 4-2 victory. Dexter Fowler had two hits and an RBI, while Chris Nelson, Carlos Gonzalez and Todd Helton all drove in runs.

Starter Jeff Francis gave up two runs over five innings and Josh Roenicke hurled two scoreless innings of relief to get the win. Rafael Betancourt left the tying runs on base in the ninth to secure his 12th save of the season.

"It was a really good ballgame, and we pitched," Colorado manager Jim Tracy said. "We pitched all the way through."

The Rockies hope they avoided a serious injury to infielder Marco Scutaro, who was forced to leave Monday's game in the sixth inning after getting hit in the helmet by a Stephen Strasburg fastball. The Rockies said he is day-to-day.

Strasburg had a six-start win streak halted after allowing three runs on six hits and a walk in six innings. It was also his first road loss of the season.

"I went out there and pounded the strike zone," Strasburg said. "It seemed they were just hitting it right beyond our gloves, basically."

Strasburg also had a run-scoring double for the Nationals, who have lost three of four and seven of their last 10. However, they still lead the National League East by 3 1/2 games over both the Braves and Mets.

The Rockies have won eight of their past 11 versus the Nationals.