The Colorado Rockies start the second half of the season off with a four-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers in Coors Field. Undoubtedly the Rockies would like to start off strong and then carry that throughout August and September, leading to a triumphant return to Rocktober.
They will look for Ubaldo Jimenez (4-8, 4.14 ERA) to be the dominant pitcher that he should have been at the start of the season. The injury to his thumb on Opening Day and then a trip to the disabled list were obstacles the Rockies were able to overcome. But when he returned, Jimenez struggled with his control and had trouble maintaining his velocity. Things began to turn around for him on June 1 when he fired off a complete game shutout against the Dodgers on four hits allowed. As of late, Jimenez has looked strong, throwing eight innings of one-run ball against the Nationals. He struck out eight and walked one.
The Rockies will be without outfielder Carlos Gonzalez for at least Thursday's game as he still has the brace on his right wrist.
The Brewers turn to Yovani Gallardo (10-5, 3.76 ERA) to start their second half. Gallardo started the Brewers' first game of the season back on March 31. After taking the no-decision in the start, he went on to pitch well enough and have enough offense behind him to win 10 games in the first half. He picked up six straight wins from early may to early June, allowing seven runs in that span. After averaging 9.9 and 9.7 strikeouts each of the previous two seasons, Gallardo has slipped to 8.0 this season, but he's made up for it by getting ground balls 48 percent of the time.
Expected pitching matchups:
Thursday
Yovani Gallardo vs. Ubaldo Jimenez, 6:40 p.m. MT, ROOT
Friday
Chris Narveson vs. Juan Nicasio, 6:40 p.m. MT, ROOT
Saturday
Zack Greinke vs. Jhoulys Chacin, 6:10 p.m. MT, ROOT
Sunday
Shaun Marcum vs. Aaron Cook, 1:10 p.m. MT, ROOT
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