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Rockies look to put charge in offense

Apr 27, 2009 - 2:15 AM By Dan Pieringer STATS Writer

San Diego (10-8) at Colorado (6-11), 8:40 p.m. EST

DENVER (AP) -- Struggles at the plate plagued the Colorado Rockies for two weeks. They hope a strong offensive showing in their last game is a sign they're emerging from their funk.

The Rockies look to build on a balanced offensive effort and get their first pair of back-to-back victories since the season's opening week Monday night when they start a three-game home series against the struggling San Diego Padres.

Colorado (6-11) was outscored 74-46 in losing 10 of 12 games from April 11-25. The Rockies batted .222 during that slump and scored more than five runs just once, in a 9-6 victory at Arizona on Tuesday.

The Rockies, though, had no problems at the plate in a 10-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. Ryan Spilborghs homered and drove in three runs, and Clint Barmes added a two-run homer as Colorado avoided a three-game sweep.

"We all know we can hit," said Jeff Baker, whose bases-loaded triple in the fifth inning put the Rockies up 9-0. "It's a matter of getting a few guys going at once."

Overall, seven Colorado players had at least one hit and eight of the Rockies' nine starters scored at least one run Sunday. Manager Clint Hurdle hopes it carries over as the Rockies try for their first pair of consecutive victories since they won three straight from April 7-10.

"This is something we had been looking for," Hurdle said. "We needed one of these where everybody threw something in and we got double-digit runs."

The Padres (10-8) have hit a rough patch after winning nine of their first 12. They've dropped five of six, including an 8-3 home loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday. San Diego ace Jake Peavy gave up five runs and walked four in five innings, and didn't get much help from his offense, which managed only five hits.

"This is as frustrating as it gets," Peavy said. "We have to come in today with a better effort and that starts with me."

The Padres hope to rebound behind Chris Young (2-0, 3.42 ERA), who bounced back from a terrible outing against Philadelphia with seven scoreless innings in San Diego's 1-0, 10-inning loss at San Francisco on Wednesday.

"I'm trying to make good pitches, and that's the bottom line," Young told the Padres' official Web site.

Young is 5-1 with a 3.28 ERA in 11 starts against the Rockies and 3-1 with a 4.20 ERA in six outings at Coors Field. Rockies first baseman Todd Helton, a career .328 hitter batting .255 this season, is 5-for-24 (.208) with five strikeouts in his career against Young.

The Rockies will hand the ball to Jason Hammel (0-0, 2.70), who has made his first three appearances of 2009 in relief. The right-hander went 2-2 with a 4.88 ERA in five starts last year with Tampa Bay. He pitched 6 2-3 innings of relief in his only previous outing against San Diego on June 13, 2007, allowing three runs and six hits while striking out eight.

Colorado and San Diego split last season's series 9-9. The Rockies went 5-4 at home.