Colorado @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 29, 2016 ) Colorado 6, NY Mets 1

The New York Mets are taking a gamble as they continue their four-game series against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, sending 43-year-old Bartolo Colon to the mound on three days' rest. Colorado has won the first two games of the series to extend its winning streak to four in a row while the Mets have dropped three straight.

The starting rotation has not been an issue for New York, allowing a total of eight runs over the past five games. Colon will be pitching on fewer than four days' rest for the first time since 2005, when he won the American League Cy Young Award with the Angels. He'll need to be wary of Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez, who is 4-for-7 with two homers versus Colon and had a three-run homer and RBI double in Friday's 6-1 victory. Charlie Blackmon broke out of a 3-for-22 rut with four hits Friday as Colorado won for the eighth time in nine games.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, ROOT (Colorado), SNY (New York)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies LH Jorge De La Rosa (6-7, 5.70 ERA) vs. Mets RH Bartolo Colón (9-5, 3.35)

De La Rosa rebounded from a wretched outing by limiting Baltimore to two runs (one earned) on four hits over 6 1/3 innings of a no-decision. He was shelled for nine runs and 11 hits by Tampa Bay in his previous turn, halting a string of five consecutive quality starts. James Loney has tormented De La Rosa, going 8-for-18 with a home runs and seven RBIs.

Continuing a pattern of alternating good and bad starts in July, Colon beat St. Louis last time out by giving up one run and three hits over seven innings. Colon had struggled in two of his previous three turns, giving up six runs in each and failing to get through five innings. Nolan Arenado is hitless in his last 13 at-bats but is 3-for-5 with a homer versus Colon.

WALK-OFFS

1. Gonzalez has 11 RBIs during his 11-game hitting streak.

2. Mets CF Juan Lagares faces surgery to repair a partially torn ligament in his left thumb that will sideline him six weeks.

3. Rockies rookie CF David Dahl has hit safely in all five career games, going 7-for-19.

PREDICTION: Rockies 5, Mets 4