Colorado @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 21, 2010 ) Colorado 2, Florida 5

On Wednesday, the Colorado Rockies did not score against Ricky Nolasco until the eighth inning. There's a good chance they may not cross the plate at all against Josh Johnson.

The Rockies try to manage a split of their four-game series against the Florida Marlins Thursday afternoon when they go up against the major leagues' ERA leader.

After totaling 18 runs in the first two games of the set, Colorado was kept off the scoreboard by Nolasco until Seth Smith hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning. That was not enough as Florida built an early lead and posted a 5-2 victory.

Dan Uggla hit an RBI double in the first inning and came around to score on Jorge Cantu's two-base hit. Gaby Sanchez made it a five-run lead an inning later with a three-run blast and Nolasco did the rest for the Marlins, improving to 5-0 lifetime against the Rockies.

Colorado, which fell to 2-4 on its season-high 11-game road trip, will be hard-pressed to score against Johnson, who has allowed just one run in 20 innings over his last three starts. On Saturday, Johnson limited Washington to seven hits over six innings while striking out seven in a 2-0 victory.

The 26-year old enters with a league-leading 1.62 ERA and has not surrendered more than two runs since May 8, a span of 12 starts.

Johnson has allowed more than three runs just once this season – Opening Day against the New York Mets, when he was reached for four in five innings. He pitched five frames in his next outing on April 10 but has worked at least six in each of his next 17 starts.

In 12 starts at home this season, Johnson is 7-2 with a 1.41 ERA. The right-hander owns a 2-0 record and 1.04 ERA in career three games, including one relief appearance, against Colorado.

The Marlins will attempt to improve to 5-2 on their 10-game homestand against Jorge De La Rosa, who is 0-1 with a 12.92 ERA over his last two outings. The 29-year old was tagged for seven runs – six earned – on just four hits in 3 1/3 innings of an 8-1 loss to Cincinnati on Saturday.

De La Rosa, who missed more than two months with a finger injury, notched a win over Florida on April 25, allowing two runs and four hits in five innings of an 8-4 triumph. He is 3-4 with a 6.57 ERA in eight career outings (seven starts) against the Marlins.

The left-hander, who is 1-1 with a 10.80 ERA in two road starts this year, has had his troubles with Florida's key hitters. Cantu, Hanley Ramirez, Cody Ross and Dan Uggla are a combined 17-for-43 (.395) with a homer and eight RBIs against De La Rosa.