Pirates at Rockies
The Colorado Rockies have fallen a season-low 16 games under .500 but hope to get untracked Thursday when they open a four-game series against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates. The Rockies have lost six of their last seven games and reached a boiling point in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s 7-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox when manager Bud Black and outfielder Charlie Blackmon were ejected for arguing.
Colorado has gone 19-41 since June 21 despite the play of Trevor Story, who is batting .385 in 24 games this month - including .511 with five home runs in 12 contests at Coors Field. Nolan Arenado, Yonathan Daza and Tony Wolters had two hits apiece in Wednesday's loss for the Rockies, who were 4-for-13 with runners in scoring position and finished interleague play with an 8-12 record. Pittsburgh began its seven-game road trip by dropping two of three against Philadelphia, which recorded 17 hits in a 12-3 victory on Wednesday. Starling Marte went 3-for-4 with a home run and Josh Bell added a two-run blast, but rookie Bryan Reynolds saw his seven-game hitting streak come to an end after going 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
TV: 8:40 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet (Pittsburgh), AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Trevor Williams (6-6, 5.35 ERA) vs. Rockies RH Chi Chi Gonzalez (0-5, 6.43)
Williams bounced back from a rough outing against Washington by allowing three hits over six scoreless innings in a 14-0 win over Cincinnati last Saturday. The 27-year-old native San Diegan has gone 4-5 with a 7.21 ERA in 11 starts since returning from the injured list on June 19. Williams is 3-3 with a 4.58 ERA in 10 road starts this season and owns a 1-1 record and 4.97 ERA in two career starts versus Colorado.
Gonzalez is still seeking his first victory of the season after giving up five runs with six walks over 4 1/3 innings in last Saturday’s 6-0 loss to St. Louis. “He just couldn’t get the ball in the strike zone,” Black told reporters. “He was around the zone; they weren’t big misses from our vantage point.” The 27-year-old native of Florida has allowed a total of six home runs while posting a 10-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his last five outings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Pittsburgh is 11-4 in its last 15 games at Coors Field dating back to July 27, 2014.
2. Story batted leadoff for the second time this season on Wednesday.
3. Pirates INF Kevin Newman has hit safely in each of his last 11 road games.