Cincinnati @ Colorado preview
Coors Field
Last Meeting ( Jul 18, 2010 ) Colorado 1, Cincinnati 0
Feel free to set your watch by it. The Colorado Rockies are making their trademark late-season push toward the playoffs.
To keep charging toward the postseason, however, the Rockies (72-64) hope that Ubaldo Jimenez can regain his form from the early season.
Jimenez (17-6, 2.69 ERA) will look to post his first win since Aug. 15 when he returns to the hill for Monday's series opener against the NL Central-leading Cincinnati Reds (79-57).
Colorado has fared well against other division leaders of late, sweeping the swooning San Diego Padres over the weekend.
Winners of 10 of their last 14 games, the Rockies are now 4 1/2 games behind the Padres in the NL West and 5 1/2 games removed from the Philadelphia Phillies in the race for the wild card.
For their part, the Reds dropped two of three to the rival St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend, but still lead Tony La Russa's struggling club by seven games in the standings.
Speaking of struggling, Jimenez has done a bit of that with an 0-4 record in his last five starts. However, the 26-year-old right-hander has a tidy 3.00 ERA in that stretch, thereby signifying that he has had little margin for error.
The Rockies have given him four runs in the four previous losses. For his part, Jimenez had given them 10 strikeouts in two of those contests.
Colorado can hang its hat on the fact that the Dominican also boasts a 2-0 mark with a 2.42 ERA in four career games against Cincinnati.
Carlos Gonzalez will do his best to help ease Jimenez's struggles. The center fielder is a red-hot 27 for his last 51 with six homers and 16 RBIs during his current 13-game hitting streak.
Dusty Baker's club features National League MVP candidate Joey Votto, who has enjoyed considerable success at Coors Field. The talented Canadian is 10-for-25 in Denver in his career.
Votto is challenging three-time NL MVP Albert Pujols for the Triple Crown. The former is batting .321 with 32 home runs and 98 RBIs this season.
Cincinnati will counter with Aaron Harang (6-7, 4.92 ERA), who returned to the mound on Tuesday after a two-month absence.
The 32-year-old right-hander permitted three runs and eight hits in four innings, but the Reds rallied to an 8-4 victory to give him a no-decision for his troubles.
Harang has had a handle on the Rockies in his career, posting a 4-2 mark with a 3.00 ERA in six career meetings.
As for matters off the field, Cincinnati pitcher Johnny Cueto is expected to rejoin the team prior to its trip to Colorado. Cueto missed the entire series against the Cardinals to tend to a family emergency in the Dominican Republic.