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Rockies hope to stay in wild card race vs. Marlins

Sep 16, 2007 - 2:25 PM Florida (65-83) at Colorado (76-72) 3:05 pm EDT

DENVER (Ticker) - The Colorado Rockies are hanging on by a thread in the National League wild card race. They will try to stay in the hunt when they wrap up a weekend series with the Florida Marlins on Sunday.

The Rockies have been playing themselves out of the race, losing three straight, including the first two games of this series with the lowly Marlins. Pitching has been at the root of the problem recently, as Colorado has given up 29 runs in the three losses.

The bright spot for the club has been the continued stellar play of MVP candidate Matt Holliday, who leads the NL with 120 RBI and ranks in the top five in hits (193), runs scored (104) and batting average (.330).

Holliday will take his hacks on Sunday against lefthander Scott Olsen (9-13, 5.81 ERA). The 23-year-old is 0-4 over his last six starts and has allowed 25 runs - 21 earned - over his last four outings.

Holliday is 4-for-5 in his career against Olsen with a homer and a double. He is batting .293 against lefthanders overall this season.

Colorado will counter with rookie Franklin Morales (1-2, 4.84). The 21-year-old lefthander picked up his first major league win on Tuesday at Philadelphia, allowing three hits in five scoreless frames.