Jon Garland will make just his second start in almost two years on Friday night when the Colorado Rockies begin a three-game series with the San Diego Padres.
Garland made nine starts for the rival Los Angeles Dodgers in 2011 before shoulder surgery caused him to miss the rest of that campaign as well as the 2012 season. He signed with the Rockies one day after being released by the Seattle Mariners on March 23.
The 33-year-old righty made his Colorado debut last Saturday against the Padres and picked up the victory in his first major league appearance since June 1, 2011. He allowed two runs on five hits and two walks over six innings of work.
"That is a lot to be proud of for Jon right there after being away from pitching for that long and to go out there and pitch like that," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said.
Garland was able to escape a big jam in the fourth inning as he got Alexi Amarista to hit into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded and nobody out. Though the Padres got one run, Garland then got Cameron Maybin to hit into a double play to secure his first victory since April 20, 2011.
In eight career meetings with the Padres, Garland is 3-4 with a 3.60 earned run average. He won 14 games with San Diego in 2010 while making 33 starts.
Tyson Ross took the loss for the Padres against Garland last weekend and will look for a bit of revenge on Friday.
Ross, acquired in a trade with the Oakland A's on Nov. 16, was charged with three runs -- two earned -- on three hits and four walks over four-plus innings. He needed 96 pitches to record the 12 outs and came out of the game after an Everth Cabrera error in the fifth frame put two runners on base with nobody out.
Colorado followed with three straight run-scoring singles.
"The first inning put him behind the eight ball in pitch count. The third and fourth were pretty clean, but in the fifth I noticed the velocity was coming down a bit and knew it was time to make a move," Padres manager Bud Black said.
Ross, a 25-year-old righty, was facing Colorado for the first time.
He'll face a Rockies club Friday that is looking to rebound after getting swept in three games by the San Francisco Giants. The Rox had won five straight heading into that series, but were outscored 23-8 by the defending champs.
Colorado lost Wednesday's finale 10-0 as Jeff Francis allowed seven runs (4 earned) on seven hits over 1 2/3 innings for the shortest outing of his career.
"You miss a pitch, and they whack it," Francis said of the Giants. "And then you make a pitch, they whack it, too."
The Padres, meanwhile, are still searching for their first series victory of the campaign and have lost seven of nine to begin the season. They dropped a 3-2 decision to the Dodgers on Thursday night in a brawl-filled rubber match of a three-game series.
The fireworks started in the sixth inning, when Dodgers hurler Zack Greinke hit Carlos Quentin with a full-count offering in a one-run game. It marked the third time that Quentin had been hit by a Greinke pitch in his career and after taking a few steps towards the mound, charged and collided shoulders with the Los Angeles hurler.
Quentin, Greinke and two other Dodgers were ejected and Los Angeles announced that Greinke suffered a fractured left collarbone.
"It's an unfortunate situation," Quentin said after the game. "Myself and Greinke have a history that dates back a few years. It's documented. It's unfortunate about the situation. It could have been avoided."
Quentin, who could be facing a suspension, also had to be separated from the Dodgers' Matt Kemp outside of the ballpark after the game.
San Diego then lost the game when Los Angeles' Juan Uribe hit a go-ahead, pinch-hit solo homer in the eighth.
The Rockies swept their three-game set with the Padres last weekend and won six of nine in San Diego last season.
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