The Rockies face another familiar foe from the NL Central when they host a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend. This will be the other half of 2011's home-and-home series. The Rockies went 3-1 on their road trip in Pittsburgh from April 7-10, losing in extra innings in the second game.
When Jhoulys Chacin takes the mound on Friday night, he will be the only Rockies starter to take make a repeat in this series. The Pirates got to him in innings 2-4, scoring five runs. He did, though, pitch through the sixth and was the pitcher of record when Jason Giambi and Seth Smith produced two runs in the seventh to put the Rockies into the lead, 6-5.
The Pirates will have two pitchers from the previous series appear on Saturday and Sunday in Paul Maholm and Charlie Morton. Maholm was tagged for five runs in the 7-1 loss and Morton had a bad case of the walks, issuing five free passes in a game that his bullpen blew in the eighth inning.
The Rockies should also be fresh as they are coming of an unexpected two-day layoff. Their Wednesday afternoon game with the Chicago Cubs was postponed due to weather and Thursday was their scheduled off-day to return to Colorado. Pittsburgh has alternated wins and losses in their last six games, taking two of three from the Nationals and dropping two of three to the Giants.
Expected pitching matchups:
Friday, April 29, 6:40 p.m. MT, ROOT
Kevin Correia vs. Jhoulys Chacin
Saturday, April 30, 6:10 p.m. MT, ROOT
Paul Maholm vs. Jason Hammel
Sunday, April 30, 1:10 p.m. MT, ROOT
Charlie Morton vs. Ubaldo Jimenez