Pittsburgh @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 18, 2018 ) Colorado 2, Pittsburgh 10

The Colorado Rockies needed some extra-inning heroics in order to avoid a sweep at Milwaukee over the weekend and should be happy to return home after a less-than-stellar road trip. The Rockies will try to string together back-to-back wins and get off to a strong start on an important seven-game homestand when they host the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday.

Colorado enters the week two games behind Arizona and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West and will need to avoid looking ahead with a four-game series against the Dodgers beginning on Thursday. The Rockies went 2-5 on their road trip through St. Louis and Milwaukee but snapped a four-game slide when Nolan Arenado slammed a go-ahead home run in the 11th inning on Sunday. The Pirates are trying to get back into the race in the NL Central but dropped two of three to the Cardinals over the weekend and are 24-26 on the road, where they will play their next nine contests before returning home for a four-game series against the division-leading Chicago Cubs. Pittsburgh tries to start off strong on the trip by sending Joe Musgrove to the mound while Colorado counters with Kyle Freeland.

TV: 8:40 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain (Colorado)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Joe Musgrove (4-5, 3.63 ERA) vs. Rockies LH Kyle Freeland (9-7, 3.20)

Musgrove yielded a total of three runs over 14 innings in his last two starts but went just 1-1 after coming out on the wrong end of a 1-0 decision against the New York Mets on July 29. The 25-year-old has allowed fewer than three earned runs in four of his last five outings and completed at least seven frames in four of those turns. Musgrove, who is facing Colorado for the first time in his career, is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in three road starts this season.

Freeland has completed six innings once in his last five starts and suffered a loss at St. Louis on Wednesday, when he surrendered three runs on nine hits and three walks in 5 1/3 frames. The 25-year-old has issued at least three free passes in six of his last 10 turns. Freeland limited the walks to two at Pittsburgh on April 18 but lasted only four innings as he surrendered five runs and six hits in a loss.

WALK-OFFS

1. Pirates LF Corey Dickerson (hamstring) is 0-for-4 in two games since coming off the 10-day disabled list.

2. Colorado SS Trevor Story went 4-for-14 with four home runs and nine RBIs in the three contests at Milwaukee.

3. Pittsburgh 2B Adam Frazier has gone 6-for-14 with three doubles and a homer in his last three games.

PREDICTION: Pirates 3, Rockies 1