Marlins Look To Stifle Surging Rockies
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MIAMI (SportsDirect Inc.) – The Colorado Rockies aim to get back above .500 and claim another series win when they wrap up a three-game set with the visiting Miami Marlins on Sunday.
A seven-run sixth inning propelled the Rockies to a 12-6 victory on Saturday, leaving them a rubber-game win away from taking a fifth consecutive series.
The surge has the club, which was eight games below .500 entering the All-Star break, back at the even mark and within three games of a wild-card spot in the National League.
One of the bright spots for the Marlins was Giancarlo Stanton, who slugged the longest home run in Coors Field history (504 feet) and drove in a pair of runs as he continues to feast on Colorado pitching.
Another was the 2,999th career hit for Ichiro Suzuki, who grounded out in the ninth in his first chance at becoming the 30th player in baseball history to reach 3,000.
Stanton, Suzuki and their teammates should have their hands full against surging Colorado right-hander Jon Gray, who will be opposed by Adam Conley in the series finale.
PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins LH Adam Conley (7-6, 3.41 ERA) vs. Rockies RH Jon Gray (8-4, 3.77)
After going 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA in five starts last month, Conley opened August with a clunker. He was charged with just two runs in four innings but gave up five hits, walked six and hit a batter in a loss at the Chicago Cubs. The 26-year-old also handed out five free passes over 5 2/3 frames in his only previous meeting with Colorado earlier this season, but he limited the Rockies to one run and one hit.
Gray is 3-0 with a 0.69 ERA in a four-start hot stretch, which includes five scoreless innings in a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday. That left the former first-round pick at 5-0 with a 3.83 mark in nine starts at home. Gray was the losing pitcher opposite Conley on June 17 in Miami despite allowing two runs in six innings.
WALK-OFFS
- Colorado is 16-8 against the NL East.
- Rockies OF David Dahl has hit safely in all 12 games since being promoted from the minors on July 25, batting .380 in that span.
- Stanton is 17-for-38 with 14 RBIs during a 10-game hitting streak versus the Rockies, and his 16 homers against them represents his high versus any team outside the NL East.
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