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Porous division giving Rockies hope

Sep 1, 2008 - 1:39 PM San Francisco (59-77) at Colorado (64-74) 3:05 pm. EDT

DENVER (Ticker) -- A woeful division has the Colorado Rockies thinking they can make noise in September like they did last season.

The Rockies look to beat up on the lowly San Francisco Giants and move closer to the top of the mediocre National League West on Monday.

The defending NL Champions, Colorado is just six games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks (69-67) in baseball's worst division. Arizona has lost six of eight and Los Angeles has dropped eight of 10, giving the Rockies hope.

What also gives them hope is last season, when they won 21 of their last 22 games to reach their first ever World Series. That kind of run makes a team believe it itself, no matter the deficit.

It doesn't hurt that the division is horrible. Colorado will look to feast the bottom feeders. San Francisco has lost five of seven and is coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds.

Jorge De La Rosa (7-7, 5.60 ERA) hopes to prolong their misery. The righthander allowed two runs - one earned - and five hits in six innings of a 7-2 win over San Francisco on Tuesday.

He will be opposed by Jonathan Sanchez (8-9, 4.53), who is expected to be activated from the disabled list. Sanchez has been out since August 11 with a strained left shoulder. Sanchez is winless since June 29, posting a 6.82 ERA in his last seven starts.