Atlanta's Mike Minor had a forgettable outing when he faced Colorado for the first time in his career in May.
The young hurler hopes for a better go of things on Wednesday night when he takes the hill for the Braves in the third contest of a four-game series with the visiting Rockies.
The 24-year-old Minor squared off against the Rockies back on May 5 and was pounded for eight runs and 10 hits over five innings of a no-decision. He put his club in a 6-0 hole by the end of the second frame, giving up a first- inning grand slam to Michael Cuddyer and a two-run double to Carlos Gonzalez in the following frame. The final damage came when Minor served up a two-run homer to Wilin Rosario in the fifth.
The lefty has logged a 2.88 earned run average since the All-Star break, though is just 2-4 in the nine starts. He is coming off a no-decision against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday after allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk in five innings of work.
In 25 starts this season, Minor is 7-10 with a 4.79 ERA.
Minor hopes that the Braves can get their offense going tonight after getting shut out 6-0 by the Rockies on Tuesday. Gonzalez and Jordan Pacheco hit solo homers in consecutive innings, with Pacheco finishing with two hits and a pair of RBI to stretch his hitting streak to 13 straight games.
"Offensively, Cargo (Gonzalez) got us going. I don't know if you can hit a baseball harder than that, and Pacheco's home run was big to get us a couple of runs," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said.
Carlos Torres replaced starter Drew Pomeranz in the fourth inning and scattered three hits over three shutout frames to get the win for Colorado, which snapped a five-game slide to Atlanta, a skid that included getting swept in three games at home from May 4-6. The Rockies only won for the third time in the previous 13 encounters overall.
Atlanta, meanwhile, lost for the fourth time in six games and fell 7 1/2 contests behind the Washington Nationals for first place in the NL East.
Tommy Hanson allowed two runs on five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings for the Braves.
"He was in good fastball command and threw both breaking balls over," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "I thought he did a nice job."
Gonzalez will look for his club to get going versus Rockies hurler Alex White, who faces the Braves for the first time in his career.
White hasn't won since June 3, losing four decisions over an 11-start winless stretch. Colorado did win five of his seven outings in August, though it did drop a decision to the San Diego Padres on Friday. White yielded three runs on four hits and three walks over 3 2/3 innings and 76 pitches.
"Command of the strike zone was not very good," White admitted. "When I do that, I get behind and that gets me in tough situations."
The 24-year-old righty is 2-7 with a 5.58 ERA in 17 starts this season.
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