By ,
Published November 20, 2014
The Colorado Rockies have been rolling lately and hope to keep the momentum going tonight in the opener of a four-game series versus the Miami Marlins at Coors Field.
Both clubs are last in their respective divisions, as the Rockies occupy the basement in the National League West and the Marlins sit in the cellar of the NL East.
The Rockies recorded a three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers with Wednesday's 7-6 win in dramatic fashion. Tyler Colvin's two-run double off of Milwaukee reliever Jim Henderson sent the home crowd into a frenzy. Wilin Rosario and Eric Young Jr. both singled, before racing home on Colvin's two- base hit to right field.
"That's a really good game for our young people to be involved in and execute in the manner in which they did," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said.
Chris Nelson went 2-for-4 with three RBI for Colorado, which has won three in a row at Coors Field for the first time since a five-game run from May 28-June 1. The Rockies have won six of nine games overall.
Colorado will hand Alex White the ball Thursday in hopes of him keeping the club on the winning path. White hasn't been able to do that himself and is 0-3 with a 6.07 earned run average in his previous seven starts, with Colorado going 2-5 in that stretch. White has recorded three straight no-decisions and last took the hill in a 9-6 loss at San Francisco on Sunday, when he gave up three runs in four innings.
White, a right-hander, is 2-6 with a 5.82 ERA in 13 starts this season and beat Miami on May 23 in an 8-4 road decision, giving up four runs over six innings. That was only time the young hurler faced the Marlins. White is just 1-3 in six home starts in 2012.
The Marlins are out west for an 11-game road trip against the Rockies, Diamondbacks and Dodgers, and avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of Philadelphia with Wednesday's 9-2 bashing in the series finale.
Greg Dobbs put the Marlins ahead to stay with a home run off of Phillies ace Roy Halladay in the sixth inning and finished with three hits. Giancarlo Stanton had two hits, two runs scored and an RBI, as Miami won for just the second time in seven tries. The Marlins entered the game on a 27-inning scoreless streak after three straight shutouts, and ended a 30-inning drought with two runs in the fourth inning.
Miami starter Mark Buehrle gave up two runs on five hits over seven innings for the win. He was 0-3 in his previous five starts coming into Wednesday's contest, and has posted double-digit wins for 12 straight seasons.
"The rest of the starters were giving me a hard time because we finally scored on my time, like, 'Hey, must be nice, must be nice to score some runs,'" Buehrle said. "In the meantime, when you score some early runs, it's nice."
Kicking off the lengthy road trip on the hill will be Ricky Nolasco. Nolasco halted a personal five-game slide his last time out in a 7-3 win over Los Angeles last Saturday, as he surrendered two runs in five innings.
Nolasco is 9-11 with a 4.90 ERA in 23 starts this season and 5-5 in 11 road assignments. He ended up on the winning side of a 7-6 triumph versus Colorado on May 22 and was reached for four runs in six innings, improving to 6-1 with a 4.62 ERA in eight career games (7 starts) in this series.
Miami won two of three meetings with Colorado from May 21-23 in south Florida.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/rockies-welcome-marlins-to-coors-field