(SportsNetwork.com) - Maybe the third time will be the charm on Wednesday when the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies attempt to play a traditional doubleheader at Coors Field.
The first two games of this set were postponed by rain, making today's doubledip necessary. In fact, the Rockies have had their last three home games postponed.
Both teams could certainly use the break, though, as Arizona has lost seven of nine after a weekend sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Colorado is also struggling and comes into Thursday's contest, having dropped five in a row and six of its last seven.
"We need to get better," said Rockies infielder Nolan Arenado. "We need to do everything -- pitch better, hit better with men on base. All around, we are not very good right now. We need to start changing it up because losing gets contagious and people start to get out of it. We need to start winning."
Arizona righty Josh Collmenter will get the call in game one, as he tries to beat the Rockies twice in the same week.
Collmenter won for the second time in three starts on Wednesday, as he held the Rockies to an unearned run and five hits over eight innings. He also struck out five and did not walk a batter to improve to 2-3, while lowering his ERA to 2.76.
"You know what? He keeps the ball off the barrel," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "He adds and subtracts, changes eye level. He knows how to pitch and he pitches off the barrel."
Collmenter has faced the Rockies 19 times (9 starts) and is 3-1 against them with a 3.59 ERA.
In the second game, Robbie Ray steps in for the injured Archie Bradley, who is on the disabled list with a sinus fracture after getting struck in the face by a line drive last Tuesday.
Ray, who pitched to a 6.35 ERA in six appearances this spring, appeared in nine games (6 starts) for the Detroit Tigers last season and was 1-4 with an 8.16 ERA.
"He has pitches to strike guys out, he's got a lot of strikeouts down there and we just want to see what he's got, give him a shot," D-backs manager Chip Hale said. "We're playing a team in the Rockies who can really hit. We saw that at our place. But they swing at a lot of pitches, so his power stuff we think matches up good with them. We had the option of a few guys and a couple of them are lefties. Robbie just makes sense right now at this point."
Opposing Collmenter on Wednesday will be lefty Tyler Matzek, who had to leave his last start with a hamstring issue. Matzek, though, still picked up the win in Arizona last Monday, as he held the D-backs to a pair of runs and five hits in five innings. He is 2-0 on the year with a 2.70 ERA.
Matzek is 2-1 in three starts versus the D-backs with a 2.65 ERA.
Getting the call in the second game for the Rockies will be righty Jordan Lyles, who was lambasted by the Diamondbacks one week ago. Lyles lost for the second time in three tries in that one, as he was rocked for seven runs (6 earned) and eight hits in just five innings, dropping him to 2-2 on the year to go along with a 4.25 ERA.
In seven starts against the D-backs, Lyles is 1-3 with a 7.07 ERA.
Arizona took two of three from the Rockies last week at Chase Field.
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