National League Preview from The Sports Network
Friday, April 13th
(All times Eastern)
Arizona Diamondbacks (5-1) at Colorado Rockies (2-4), 8:40 p.m.
Probable Starting Pitchers: Arizona - Daniel Hudson (1-0, 5.40)
Colorado - Juan Nicasio (0-0, 1.29)
(Sports Network) - Until last August, Coors Field had only been a place of
success for Rockies starter Juan Nicasio. That all changed on one line drive.
Nicasio will pitch his first regular season game at home since his career
nearly ended on that same mound as he takes the hill tonight for Colorado's
opener of a three-game series with the red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks.
The 25-year-old Nicasio won his first four decisions at Coors Field before
taking a loss to the Nationals on Aug. 5. The Dominican hurler recorded just
three outs in that game before getting hit in the head by a line drive that
resulted in a fractured skull and shattered C-1 vertebrae, ending his rookie
season after 13 starts.
Nicasio, who still owns a 1.98 earned run average in seven starts at Coors
Field, made a successful season debut in Houston on Sunday. He gave up a run
on five hits and one walk over seven innings of a no-decision.
The right-hander will be facing the Diamondbacks for the first time in his
career looking to pitch the Rockies to just their third win of the season.
After exploding for 17 runs and 22 hits in a victory over the Giants on
Wednesday, the Rockies were held to seven hits in a 4-2 loss the following
day. Jamie Moyer, 49, was outdueled by 22-year-old San Francisco hurler
Madison Bumgarner, with the Colorado hurler allowing four runs -- two earned
-- on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings in his second bid to become the oldest
pitcher ever to record a win in the majors.
"I threw way too many pitches early in the game, but I made good pitches when
I needed to," Moyer said.
Arizona comes into this meeting 5-1 for the first time since 2000. The
Diamondbacks bounced back from a loss to the Padres on Wednesday with last
night's 3-1 victory. Chris Young hit a solo homer and Ian Kennedy struck out
nine batters over six innings.
Kennedy settled in nicely after allowing three consecutive hits to start the
first inning. The right-hander gave up only two more hits over the rest of his
one-run outing while improving to 6-0 against San Diego in his career.
"[Kennedy] shows up ready to go every day," Young said.
Aaron Hill and Jason Kubel knocked in the other runs for the Diamondbacks.
Daniel Hudson will follow Kennedy's outing tonight after winning his first
start on Saturday versus the Giants. The right-hander allowed four runs, five
hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings, giving up two homers but still getting
the win.
"There were a couple of things I didn't do well today," said Hudson. "A couple
of mistakes that they put over the wall and I didn't get enough first-pitch
strikes. There's some things I need to work on."
Hudson's 24 wins since Aug. 1, 2010 are tied for the third-most in the
National League and the 25-year-old is 1-2 with a 2.73 ERA in four career
starts versus the Rockies.
The Diamondbacks won seven of their final eight meetings with the Rockies last
year and took the season series 13-5. They won six of nine in Colorado.
04/13 10:56:24 ET

|