Diamondbacks-Rockies Preview: Stay Out of the Basement
By Thomas Lynch
Please get Vidal Nuno a win. Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
The Arizona Diamondbacks begin their final road trip of the 2014 season with four games at Coors Field vs. the Colorado Rockies. The D’backs are 62-90, one game ahead of the last place Rockies in the National League West. The D’backs just dropped two out of three games at home to the San Francisco Giants while the Rockies took two out of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers, including yesterday’s 16-2 pasting of the Boys in Blue.
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The opening game features a pair of winless starting pitchers. Vidal Nuno gets the nod for Arizona while Yohan Flande goes for Colorado. Nuno pitched the game of his career against the Rockies on August 30th at Chase Field. He retired 20 consecutive hitters at one point and allowed only two hits and no walks over eight innings. However, Charlie Blackmon‘s solo home run in the second inning helped hand Nuno a 2-0 defeat. The 28-year old Flande is making his ninth start this season and first since a five appearance stint in the bullpen. The lefty made his Major League debut this season and Colorado is looking at him for a rotation spot in 2015.
Friday’s contest will see Chase Anderson take the hill against Jordan Lyles. We could be seeing Anderson’s final start of 2014 as he has exceeded his career-high in innings by 40. He is 3-0 against the Rockies, allowing three earned run in 18 innings. Lyles is 6-3 with a 4,21 ERA in 20 starts. He has started twice against the D’backs, allowing ten hits in ten innings pitched. He has yet to earn a decision.
The Rockies have not decided on who will be throwing on Saturday and Sunday. For the D’backs, Trevor Cahill will take the mound on Saturday. Unfortunately, the promise the sinkerballer gave us upon his recall from the Minors has all but vanished. Only once over his last four outings has Cahill gone past five innings. On August 9th, he held the Rockies to two runs over seven innings. On Sunday, Wade Miley will look for his second straight win and with eight innings pitched, he will reach 200 for the second straight season. Miley is 1-1 in three starts vs. the Rockies this year with a 5.40 ERA.
Mark Trumbo had his best game as a D’back on Monday driving in five of the team’s six runs with a grand slam and a single. David Peralta is still resting a sore back and his status for this weekend is uncertain. Miguel Montero has slumped with only 3 hits in his last 34 at-bats. He has already started 124 games at catcher. Charlie Blackmon has had a tremendous season for Colorado. He went 5 for 5 in yesterday’s blowout victory and was 6 for 6 in a game against the D’backs earlier this season. No Carlos Gonzalez, no Troy Tulowitzki and now no Nolan Arenado. The star third baseman has been diagnosed with early onset pneumonia which he will probably means he will join his two teammates on the shelf for the remainder of the season.