After taking the first game of the series in commanding fashion, the Colorado Rockies turned around and almost disappeared in the second game against the Houston Astros. Starting pitching has seen much-needed improvement in the series, but the offense has been inconsistent, leaving Thursday’s afternoon finale up in the air.
The Rockies will look for Kyle Freeland (3-13, 5.31 ERA) to keep up the trend from the other two starters in the series. Outside of two bad pitches that resulted in two-run home
runs, Freeland looked well enough against the Pittsburgh Pirates in his last outing. The blister didn’t seem much of a factor, but it’s always something to be cognisant of in his starts due to its regular occurrences. The last time Freeland faced the Astros, he recorded a quality start, allowing three runs on six hits over six innings of work. Anything akin to that will be a welcome sight against the Astros’ lineup.
He’ll be opposed by George Costanza Jason Alexander (4-1, 4.59 ERA). The right-hander has been quite excellent for the Astros since joining the organization in June and becoming part of the rotation in July. After a rough brief stint with the Athletics, Alexander caught on with the Astros and, since becoming a regular part of the rotation, has posted a 2.27 ERA in eight games, including seven starts. He has been particularly good this month, going 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA over 23 1/3 innings with 18 strikeouts against five walks. His last outing was the first time he failed to go six full innings this month,when he gave up two runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings.
First Pitch: 12:10 p.m. MDT
TV: Rockies.tv
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
Lineups:
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