Colorado @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 1, 2018 ) Colorado 4, San Diego 2

The Colorado Rockies were happy to turn the calendar after closing the month of August with four frustrating losses in their final five games. The Rockies look to build on an encouraging start to September on Sunday as they aim for a split of their four-game series against the host San Diego Padres, who saw their season-high four-game winning streak come to an end Saturday.

DJ LeMahieu homered and Jon Gray tossed six strong innings in Saturday’s 4-2 win as Colorado pulled within one-half game of National League West co-leaders Arizona and the Los Angeles Dodgers and trail Milwaukee by 2 1/2 for the second wild-card spot. Nolan Arenado snapped an 0-for-19 slump with two hits while Matt Holliday reached base four times as he improved to 7-for-17 in seven games since rejoining the Rockies. San Diego fell to 27-44 at home despite two solo blasts by Hunter Renfroe, who is 14-for-29 with five homers during his career-high nine-game hitting streak. The 26-year-old Renfroe led the NL with 27 RBIs in August and has solidified his role in the Padres’ rebuilding effort with his play this season.

TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain (Colorado), FS San Diego

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies LH Kyle Freeland (12-7, 2.90 ERA) vs. Padres RH Jacob Nix (2-2, 4.05)

Freeland entered the Cy Young Award discussion on Tuesday after allowing one run over six innings in a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. The 25-year-old native of Denver improved to 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 32 1/3 frames over his last five starts, and the Rockies have gone 10-1 in his last 11 outings. Manuel Margot is 2-for-16 against Freeland, who is 1-2 with a 3.94 ERA in seven career games (five starts) versus San Diego.

Nix won for the second time in four starts on Tuesday, allowing one run and eight hits over 8 1/3 innings against Seattle. “He’s smart. He’s confident, too,” San Diego manager Andy Green told reporters. “If you want to succeed in this league, those are two really great attributes to have.” The 22-year-old rookie faced Colorado at Coors Field on Aug. 22, giving up three runs and five hits in five frames of a 6-2 loss.

WALK-OFFS

1. LeMahieu has hit 11 of his career-high 13 home runs on the road.

2. San Diego is looking to record its first home series victory against Colorado since June 3-5, 2016.

3. The Rockies recalled OF Noel Cuevas, INF Pat Valaika, C Tom Murphy, LHP Harrison Musgrave and RHP Yency Almonte from Triple-A Albuquerque.

PREDICTION: Rockies 5, Padres 3