Clayton Richard eyes a third straight win on Friday when the red-hot San Diego Padres open a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
Richard won for the fourth time in five starts on Sunday in Arizona, as he held the Diamondbacks to three runs and seven hits in eight innings to improve to 11-12 on the year to go along with a 3.72 ERA.
The left-hander, who has pitched to a 2.11 ERA in his five August starts, lost to the Rockies the last time he faced them and is just 1-4 in 10 starts against them with a 5.84 ERA.
San Diego has been one of the hottest teams in the league and enters Friday's opener having won nine of its last 10 following a series win over playoff hopeful Atlanta.
"We're playing with a lot of confidence. We feel like we can go out each and every night and win," Headley said.
Colorado has also played well of late and like the Padres, made life difficult for a playoff contender this past week, as it took two of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rockies were denied a sweep in that set on Wednesday, but still fell for only the third time in their last eight games.
The Rockies actually found themselves down 10-1 in the finale, but rallied for seven runs in the eighth before falling, 10-8.
"We feel like we're never out of a game in here," LeMahieu said. "We were down big, but I don't think anyone thought we were going to go down easy. It says a lot about the character of the people on this team. We gave them all they could handle."
Hoping for that same type of support on Friday will be righty Alex White, who is 2-6 with a 5.49 ERA. White has pitched just four innings in each of his last five starts and hasn't gone over 84 pitches in any of his last nine.
Needless to say, White hasn't picked up a victory since June 3 despite the Rockies winning five of his last six starts.
"Sometimes when the starter goes four and I come in and get the win, I feel like a jerk," said Colorado reliever Carlos Torres, who was credited with the victory in White's last outing. "But you take what you can get in this game, because usually it takes it from you. You'd like starters to get wins. In the bullpen, we just like to do our jobs and get outs."
San Diego is 7-5 against the Rockies this year and hasn't captured a season series against them since going 11-7 in 2005.
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