Colorado @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 2, 2013 ) Colorado 4, Pittsburgh 2

As the Colorado Rockies' Todd Helton winds down his phenomenal career, the 39-year-old occasionally proves he can still impact a game. The Rockies try for their second straight victory over the Pirates when they visit Pittsburgh on Saturday for the middle contest of a three-game series. Helton celebrated the 16th anniversary of his major-league debut Friday with a two-run single that put the finishing touches on a 4-2 victory which snapped Colorado's four-game losing streak.

The first-place Pirates lost their second straight after winning the first four of a five-game series against National League Central-rival St. Louis and saw their lead over the Cardinals shrink to one-half game. Pittsburgh, which has the best record in baseball at 65-44, has mustered only one run in its last two games after recording 22 in the previous four contests. The Pirates' Francisco Liriano is 6-1 with a 1.61 ERA in seven home starts this season and will oppose the Rockies' Jorge De La Rosa in a battle of left-handers.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, ROOT (Colorado, Pittsburgh)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies LH Jorge De La Rosa (10-5, 3.21 ERA) vs. Pirates LH Francisco Liriano (11-4, 2.16)

De La Rosa yielded a season-high eight runs (five earned) and 10 hits in five innings of Colorado's 9-8 loss in 10 innings at Atlanta on Monday. The 32-year-old, who allowed one run and 10 hits while striking out nine in 12 frames over his previous two starts, yielded more than three runs for the first time in 10 outings. De La Rosa is 3-2 with a 4.01 ERA in 11 games (seven starts) against Pittsburgh, but the roster has only 57 at-bats (16 hits) against him.

Liriano yielded one run and four hits over seven innings in Pittsburgh's 9-2 victory over St. Louis on Monday. "I'm not trying to throw hard ... I'm not worried about speed right now. I just want to make sure I locate my pitches," said the 29-year-old, who won his second straight start and sixth in his last seven outings. Liriano has a 1.16 WHIP and .211 batting average against, and has allowed one run and six hits while striking out 16 in 14 2/3 innings over his last two starts.

WALK-OFFS

1. Colorado LF Carlos Gonzalez (right middle finger), second in the NL with 26 home runs, was not in the starting lineup Friday for the second straight night but entered in the eighth inning as a defensive replacement. Rockies RF Michael Cuddyer, who is batting .329 - third in the NL, missed his second straight game while tending to a family matter.

2. Pittsburgh pitchers had not allowed a home run at PNC Park for 70 innings prior to Colorado SS Troy Tulowitzki's second-inning blast Friday.

3. Helton, a .318 career hitter who hasn't batted that high since recording a .325 average in 2009, went 2-for-4 with a home run in his major-league debut at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh on Aug. 2, 1997.

PREDICTION: Pirates 3, Rockies 2