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Rockies open trek in San Francisco

Jun 26, 2015 - 2:29 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Colorado Rockies kick off a 10-game road trip on Friday night when they play the first of three straight matchups with the San Francisco Giants.

The Rockies are coming off a 6-4 win over Arizona on Thursday, when Troy Tulowitzki ignited a five-run eighth inning with his first career pinch-hit home run.

Nolan Arenado also homered and Wilin Rosario went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in Colorado's fourth victory in five games. Justin Miller earned the win after tossing a flawless eighth inning and John Axford nailed down his 13th save of the season after having blown his first save chance of the season the previous night.

"We added some runs on late and barely held on," Tulowitzki said.

Colorado may have both outfielder Carlos Gonzalez and reliever Rafael Betancourt available at some point in this series. Gonzalez did not start any of the three games versus the Diamondbacks due to a sprained left hand, though he did come in as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning on Wednesday.

Gonzalez is hitting just .237 this year with 10 homers and 27 RBI and could return to action tonight.

Betancourt, meanwhile, was placed on the disabled list on June 7 due to vertigo symptoms. He is expected to be activated at some point this weekend.

Getting the start in tonight's opener for Colorado will be Chad Bettis, who is 3-2 with a 3.44 earned run average through eight starts this year.

Bettis snapped a two-start slide on Saturday with a 5-1 victory over Milwaukee, his first since May 29. He limited the Brewers to only one run on five hits and two walks over 6 1/3 innings with five strikeouts.

"He had it all working, but the command was real good," Colorado manager Walt Weiss said about Bettis.

Bettis, a 26-year-old righty, beat San Francisco on May 24 behind a season- high 8 1/3 innings, scattering two runs and six hits while fanning seven. He improved to 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA lifetime versus the Giants over six meetings with two starts.

Bettis will face a Giants offense that pounded out 19 hits in a 13-8 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday. Buster Posey and Gregor Blanco both knocked in three runs to back Chris Heston's seven strong innings.

Heston gave up two runs, both in his last inning, and allowed just five hits and a walk while striking out six. He added an RBI single that helped San Francisco build a 7-0 lead that nearly slipped away as the Padres scored two runs in the seventh and six in the eighth.

"Those things are going to happen," said Heston. "We've all been out there and given a few up. But the bats have been swinging so good lately and luckily we were able to come back and put a four-spot on them."

The Giants, who have won five of their last seven, had four triples in the game, including two by Brandon Belt.

Tim Hudson gets the call tonight for the Giants looking to win a second straight start for the first time this season.

Hudson has alternated decisions over his past seven starts and is coming off Saturday's 6-2 victory over the hosting Los Angeles Dodgers. The veteran hurler yielded two runs -- both on solo homers -- on six hits and two walks over 6 1/3 frames, improving to 5-6 on the year with a 4.52 ERA.

"I was able to keep them off balance," said Hudson. "Fortunately, we've been able to play some pretty good baseball against these guys."

The right-hander is 0-2 versus the Rockies in three meetings this year and allowed a season-high eight runs over 3 2/3 frames the last time he faced them on May 24 in Colorado. In 18 career starts against the Rockies, Hudson is 5-4 with a 4.77 ERA.

The Rockies swept a three-game set in San Francisco from April 13-15 and are 6-3 against the Giants this season.