The Colorado Rockies will hope the return of starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa can help them avoid a sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants on Thursday afternoon.
De La Rosa will make his first appearance in a big league game since May 24, 2011, when an elbow injury he suffered ended up requiring Tommy John surgery.
Opposing him is San Francisco left-hander Barry Zito (12-8, 4.21 ERA), who has picked up wins in eight-straight decisions dating back to early August. His most recent came in a 3-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in which he tossed 6⅔ innings, giving up six hits and only one earned run on Sept. 15.
Colorado is in the midst of a five-game losing skid, including the first three of this four-game set in San Francisco to the NL West division-leading Giants. Wednesday night's 7-1 loss saw the Rockies' bats get silenced by Giants ace Matt Cain, who only allowed one run in eight innings of work.
Game-time is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. MT and can be seen on ROOT Sports.
Head over to Purple Row for more on the Rockies, and check out McCovey Chronicles for more Giants coverage. Also be sure to visit Baseball Nation for even more news and analysis from around the league.