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Sanchez hopes to move past rough July in finale with Rockies

Aug 3, 2014 - 12:36 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - While the Detroit Tigers were looking towards an October run when they acquired David Price before the non-waiver trade deadline, Anibal Sanchez is hoping to leave July far behind him.

Sanchez gets the start on Sunday afternoon for the Tigers in the finale of a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies.

Sanchez went 2-3 in five starts last month with a 6.03 earned run average, finishing July with an 11-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday. The righty was charged with five runs -- four earned -- on six hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings.

The 30-year-old dropped to 7-5 with a 3.57 ERA on the year, but comes into this outing unbeaten versus Colorado. He is 3-0 against the Rockies with a 2.20 ERA in four previous meetings.

Colorado left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, meanwhile, is in no hurry to leave his past outings behind. He comes in unbeaten in seven straight starts, 5-0 with a 3.25 ERA in that time.

The Rockies have lost both games that De La Rosa did not get a decision in, including Tuesday's 4-3 setback to the Chicago Cubs in 16 innings. The 33- year-old allowed three runs on six hits and a walk over six innings, striking out seven.

De La Rosa is 11-6 with a 4.20 ERA on the year, but just 1-1 lifetime when facing Detroit with a 7.85 ERA in four starts.

The Tigers have won the first two of this set and notched 16 hits in Saturday's 11-5 win. They scored a run in every inning they batted for the first time since 1912.

Victor Martinez hit a three-run homer, while J.D. Martinez and Miguel Cabrera both had solo home runs to back Rick Porcello's eight innings of two-run ball. Porcello struck out a season-high 10 to join teammate Max Scherzer as the lone 13-game winners in the American League.

"I had a good feel for the off-speed stuff today," Porcello said. "When I can get those pitches going and keep them down in the zone, I can get some strikeouts."

The Tigers have won three of their last four and lead the Kansas City Royals by five games for first place in the AL Central.

Tyler Matzek was lit up for eight runs on 10 hits in just four-plus innings of work as the Rockies lost for the sixth time in their last seven games.

"I was just up in the zone a little bit," Matzek said. "I was hitting the side alright, in and out, but I was leaving it up a little bit and they were getting to it."

This is the first time these teams have met since 2012 when Detroit won a three-game set against the Rockies. The Tigers last swept the Rox in 2008 at home.