Colorado @ Philadelphia preview
Citizens Bank Park
Last Meeting ( May 12, 2010 ) Philadelphia 3, Colorado 4
With their offense once again struggling to score runs, it took 11 innings of one-hit ball for the Philadelphia Phillies to snap their four-game losing streak Thursday in St. Louis.
In case the bats don't come around tonight, the Phillies have the right guy on the mound to weave another gem.
The slumping Phillies send ace Roy Halladay to the mound tonight in the opener of a four-game series with the Colorado Rockies, another team struggling to keep its playoff hopes afloat.
The Phillies have scored a total of four runs in their last three games - and the two they scored Thursday didn't come until the 11th inning of a 2-0 win at St. Louis. They're 2-6 since the All-Star break and have slipped seven games behind Atlanta in the National League East.
The second half hasn't started much better for Colorado, which lost its last two games at Florida and dropped three of four in the series to fall to 2-5 since the break. The Rockies are 4 1/2 games behind San Diego in the NL West.
The Phillies hope Halladay (10-8, 2.40 ERA) can extend Colorado's slow start to the second half.
The 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner has pitched much better than his record indicates, Sunday's outing at Wrigley Field notwithstanding. The Cubs roughed him up for six runs - five earned - over six innings, belting two home runs. The homers have been a concern for Halladay recently - he has allowed 10 home runs in his last seven starts after giving up only three in his first 13 outings.
Before the poor outing in Chicago, though, Halladay had posted back-to-back complete games, allowing only one run and 10 hits over 18 innings.
Halladay has been dominant at home, going 6-4 with a 1.87 ERA in 11 starts at Citizens Bank Park. In two career starts against the Rockies, he is 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA, including a two-hit shutout in 2002.
The Rockies' scheduled starter, 31-year-old right-hander Aaron Cook, looks to turn around his road woes - he is 1-5 with a 5.83 ERA in 10 starts away from Coors Field - and he'll have to do it against a Phillies team that has given him problems over the years. In 10 career appearances against Philadelphia, Cook is 1-5 with a 5.70 ERA.
Cook (4-5, 4.56 ERA) has won his last two decisions, with a rough outing against St. Louis in between. He is coming off one of his best starts of the season, in which he held Cincinnati to six hits and one walk over seven scoreless innings to earn the win in a 1-0 victory.
Philadelphia's stars have hit Cook well. Jimmy Rollins is 11-for-29 (.379) against him, Ryan Howard is 8-for-20 (.400) with a homer at his expense and Jayson Werth is 5-for-12 (.417) against Cook.
Halladay and Cook squared off May 12 in Colorado, but neither factored in the decision. Cook allowed three runs over six innings, while Halladay gave up three runs - two earned - over 6 1/3 innings in the Rockies' 4-3 victory.
The Rockies have a pair of players who had success against Halladay during his days in the American League. Jason Giambi is 22-for-70 (.314) with four homers against him, and Melvin Mora is 22-for-72 (.306) with two homers off him.