Colorado @ New York preview
Citi Field
Last Meeting ( Aug 10, 2010 ) Colorado 0, NY Mets 1
The Colorado Rockies' inability to win in Queens could contribute to their inability to stay in the National League playoff race.
The New York Mets hope their dominance at home against Colorado will help keep their slim playoff hopes afloat.
After dropping the opener of the teams' three-game series 1-0 at Citi Field on Tuesday, the Rockies have lost 22 of 25 on the Mets' home field, a trend they need to buck tonight to stop their slide down the NL West standings.
Tuesday's loss dropped the Rockies into fourth place in the division, 7 1/2 games behind San Diego.
The Mets, meanwhile, are trying to break their own free fall in the standings. Winning the series opener got them back to .500, but they're 8 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the NL East.
The Mets continued to struggle at the plate in the series opener, managing only one run and four hits against Ubaldo Jimenez, but Mike Pelfrey and two relievers combined on a four-hitter to make it stand up. New York has hit .229 and scored only 20 runs in its past eight games.
Rockies starter Jeff Francis hopes to take advantage of that tonight, as the 29-year-old left-hander continues his return from Tommy John surgery.
Francis (4-4, 4.67 ERA) had strung together three consecutive starts in which he allowed two runs or fewer before surrendering five runs on nine hits over 5 2/3 innings Thursday at Pittsburgh.
In four starts against the Mets, Francis is 2-2 with a 5.40 ERA. He has never pitched at Citi Field. Several of New York's stars have hit him well - David Wright is 6-for-9 with three homers against him, Jose Reyes is 4-for-13 and Carlos Beltran is 3-for-10.
Aside from Reyes, who has hit safely in 18 of his last 20 games and whose sacrifice fly provided the only run Tuesday, the Mets need those stars to snap out of slumps. Wright is 2-for-29 with eight strikeouts in eight games in August, and Beltran has hit .195 since returning from the disabled list July 15.
The Rockies have struggled to score runs on recent visits to New York. After Tuesday's 1-0 loss, they've been shut out in five of their last seven road games against the Mets.
The Mets would like to see Jonathan Niese add to that number tonight. Niese (7-5, 3.63 ERA) has posted six quality starts in his last eight outings, going 3-3 with a 2.88 ERA during that stretch.
The 23-year-old left-hander suffered one of his few rough outings of the season April 14 at Colorado, allowing five runs on nine hits over five innings in a 6-5 loss. In two starts against the Rockies, he is 0-1 with a 7.15 ERA.