Marlins Face Rockies On Sunday
MIAMI (AP) -- While their struggles at the plate have led to a disappointing road swing, the Colorado Rockies might not need much scoring to end the trip on a positive note.
Jorge De La Rosa seeks his fourth straight win and 14th overall as the Rockies try for their first road series win in nearly seven weeks Sunday against the Miami Marlins.
Todd Helton, who moved into 96th place on the all-time hit list with 2,496 in 17 seasons, had two of Colorado's four hits off All-Star rookie Jose Fernandez in Saturday's 3-0 loss.
"It's pretty exciting to pitch against that guy who has done a lot of great things in baseball," Fernandez said. "Hopefully he's going to keep doing it."
Teammate Michael Cuddyer had the only other two hits, raising his average to .419 during an eight-game hitting streak. Troy Tulowitzki, however, had his streak snapped at 10.
The Rockies (60-71) have averaged 3.1 runs and batted .177 with runners in scoring position while dropping six of their last eight on this 10-game trip that concludes Sunday. Helton, Tulowitzki and Nolan Arenado are a combined 2 for 20 in those situations during this stretch.
Colorado, though, still has a chance to win its first road series since taking two of three in San Diego from July 8-10 with De La Rosa (13-6, 3.21 ERA) going to the mound.
After allowing 11 runs and 16 hits in nine innings over two starts, the left-hander has a 2.45 ERA while winning his last three. He yielded three runs and three hits over 6 1-3 innings in a 5-3 win at Philadelphia on Tuesday.
"He's been our guy," said manager Walt Weiss of De La Rosa, who will try to become the fourth 14-game winner in the NL.
De La Rosa has also won three straight against the Marlins (49-79), posting a 1.59 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 22 2-3 innings over his last four starts. He scattered five hits over six shutout innings in the last meeting, a 2-1 win on July 24.
Miami starter Jacob Turner (3-4, 3.02) lost to De La Rosa in that contest, giving up two runs and six hits over six innings.
Turner has allowed 14 walks and 19 hits while failing to make it out of the sixth in his last three outings. He was tagged for four runs and season-worst 10 hits over five innings Tuesday but did not receive a decision in Miami's 6-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The right-hander has gone 0-3 with a 3.99 ERA in his last seven starts, getting only 11 runs of support in those outings.
Miami will try to reverse that trend, though it has totaled six runs while batting .169 over its last four games.
Christian Yelich (3 for 26), Donovan Solano (2 for 20) and Jake Marisnick (2 for 19) are among those slumping for the NL-worst Marlins.
Following a 2-for-17 slump, Ed Lucas has been a bright spot by going 9 for 23 over his last seven games.
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