Football
Associated Press 16y

Rockies-Dodgers Preview

Though he's having the worst season of his career, Brad Penny has still managed to find a way to beat the Colorado Rockies.

Penny looks to win his 10th straight decision against the Rockies and saddle them with their ninth straight loss as he takes the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night in the middle game of the teams' series.

Penny (5-6, 5.66 ERA) has struggled over his last five starts, going 0-4 with a 9.43 ERA. In his last outing, he gave up six runs and eight hits in four innings as Los Angeles lost 8-4 to the New York Mets on Thursday.

The veteran right-hander started the season strong, going 5-2 with a 3.19 ERA in his first seven starts. He ended that stretch with two straight wins over Colorado (20-38) despite posting a 4.50 ERA.

The veteran right-hander is 9-0 with a 3.28 ERA in his last 13 starts versus the Rockies, and 14-2 with a 3.06 ERA in 23 career starts.

This matchup seems to give Penny an excellent opportunity to earn his first win in a month. Los Angeles (28-29) beat Colorado 8-2 on Monday night to hand the Rockies their eighth straight loss.

Colorado, which has also lost a franchise-record 13 straight on the road, is 18 games under .500 for the first time since finishing the 2005 season 67-95. The Rockies have lost 19 of their last 21 away from Coors Field, and their current road skid is the longest in the majors since the Seattle Mariners dropped 15 in a row from June 22-July 28, 2004.

The eight straight losses is Colorado's longest overall losing streak since a 10-game run from April 24-May 7, 2005.

With outfielders Matt Holliday (hamstring) and Brad Hawpe (hamstring) and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (quadriceps) all on the 15-day disabled list, Colorado struggled at the plate in this series' opener. That trio combined to hit .308 with 89 home runs and 352 RBIs last season.

"Truth be told, we're probably a little bit short against some of the teams we're playing," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "But every night we go out there with an opportunity to win a ballgame, so we need to stay focused on what we do have, not what we don't have. And I've addressed this with the club in different ways."

Los Angeles' lineup, meanwhile, had one of its best games in a month, getting home runs from Jeff Kent, Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp.

Kent hit his 371st career homer, breaking a tie with injured teammate Andruw Jones and Brooklyn Dodgers great Gil Hodges for 64th place all-time. Kent is batting .333 (7-for-21) in five games against Colorado this season, and Los Angeles has won each of those contests.

Kent and the Dodgers' lineup will now face Jeff Francis (1-5, 6.12 ERA), who is 0-1 with a 4.38 ERA in two starts versus Los Angeles this season. The left-hander, though, is 4-2 with a 2.96 ERA in 11 lifetime starts against the Dodgers.

Francis gave up three runs and six hits in five innings as Colorado lost 8-4 to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday night. He allowed 16 runs in his previous three starts, spanning 17 innings.

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