Written by
The Sports Network
(Sports Network) - The Atlanta Braves go for a four-game sweep of the Colorado
Rockies this afternoon at Turner Field.
The Braves have been on a roll, winning three straight and 13 of 16 games, and
recorded a 9-1 drubbing of the Rockies last night behind six strong innings
from Jair Jurrjens and home runs by Chipper Jones and Dan Uggla. Jordan
Schafer posted four hits, an RBI and a run scored for Atlanta, which pulled
within three games of NL East-leading Philadelphia in the standings.
"The first couple innings I was cruising along, then I lost a little bit of
the strike zone in the middle part," said Jurrjens, who is the only NL pitcher
with 12 wins. "They made it difficult on me, taking pitches, fouling them off.
I did end up making the pitches I needed to get out of trouble when I needed
to."
Atlanta is 5-1 on a seven-game homestand and will visit Philadelphia for three
games over the weekend.
Taking the mound for the Braves today will be veteran Tim Hudson, who is 3-1
with a 2.10 earned run average in his last five starts since going 0-3 in his
previous five appearances. In a 5-4 win over Baltimore on Saturday, Hudson
allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings to hold on for the win and
lift his season record to 7-6 with a 3.57 ERA.
Hudson has lasted at least six innings in three straight and five of his last
seven journeys to the hill. The right-hander is 4-3 in 10 home starts this
season and has faced Colorado six times in his career, going 3-2 with a 4.86
ERA in that stretch.
Colorado has lost four in a row overall and six straight away from the Rocky
Mountains. Matt Pagnozzi had two hits and an RBI for the Rockies, who received
a rough outing from Aaron Cook. Cook suffered the loss for giving up seven
runs and 10 hits in five innings.
The Rockies were without sluggers Carlos Gonzalez (wrist) and Troy Tulowitzki
(quad). Gonzalez could possibly return today after taking light batting
practice.
"Let's face it ... right now we're undermanned," noted Rockies manager Jim
Tracy. "The big key for us, moving forward will be how we handle this because
I think we're getting closer to getting some pieces back. Even when we do,
it's very important that we pitch better from a starting-pitcher standpoint."
Colorado will visit Washington for three games this weekend.
Rockies hard-throwing rookie Juan Nicasio will make his eighth career start
this afternoon and is 3-1 with a 4.10 ERA over the first seven starts. Nicasio
threw a career-best eight shutout innings of three-hit ball in last Friday's
9-0 drubbing of Kansas City and struck out four batters.
Nicasio ended a string of consecutive no-decisions and caught the eye of
Rockies manager Jim Tracy.
"The command that you saw was very similar to his first start against the
Cardinals," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "He just pounded his fastball down
in the zone for strikes. It was effective enough that his breaking stuff in
the strike zone was playing off of his fastball. He was jamming guys and his
fastball was pitched to both sides of the plate."
The righty is 0-1 in three road starts with a not-so-stellar 7.47 ERA. He will
face the Braves for the first time in his career.
Colorado and Atlanta are meeting for the first time since the Rockies won four
of six matchups a year ago. The Braves, who have outscored Colorado 18-5 in
the first three games, haven't swept the Rockies in four games since May 6-9,
1993.
The Sports Network