Troy Tulowitzki tends to thrive against the Diamondbacks, and he hopes facing left-handers for the rest of this series will keep it that way. The shortstop looks to continue his hot hitting as the Rockies go for their seventh win in the last 10 games against the D-backs on Saturday night.
Tulowitzki is hitting .383 with five homers, 17 RBIs and a .455 on-base percentage over his last 13 games in the series. He's plated 10 of those runs while going 8 for 20 with three homers in the past six matchups.
Tulowitzki came up big again Friday, connecting for a three-run double in the fifth inning to put the Rockies up for good in a 6-3 win. He also had an RBI double in Thursday's 3-2 loss to open this four-game set.
Colorado (15-8) may be in for stiffer tests in the final two games of this series with Arizona (13-10) scheduled to start southpaws Wade Miley and Patrick Corbin, who have combined to go 4-0 with a 2.24 ERA.
"It's definitely better than having them separate, having lefty-righty, lefty-righty," Tulowitzki told the team's official website. "We know we're up against a few of them. I actually feel good up there against lefties."
Tulowitzki, though, has a .159 average against left-handers since the start of 2012 -- 2 for 17 this season -- after hitting .346 over the previous two years. He's also 0 for 6 against Miley, Saturday's starter.
The Rockies are fourth in the NL with a .271 average off lefties.
Miley (2-0, 2.77 ERA) is 4-0 with a 3.11 ERA in six games -- five starts -- against Colorado in his career, going 2-0 with a 2.49 ERA in three home outings. But he hasn't won since his only start at Chase Field, yielding two runs in 6 2/3 innings of a 10-2 victory over the Pirates on April 10. Miley doesn't have a decision in two starts since, but he left with the lead during Monday's 5-4 loss in San Francisco. He allowed two runs in the first inning but settled down to toss 5 2/3 scoreless innings only to have the bullpen surrender three runs in the last two frames.
He gave himself the lead with his first career homer, a solo shot, in the fifth.
The Rockies will send Jeff Francis (1-2, 8.44) to the mound on three days' rest due to Tuesday's doubleheader.
They were swept in that twinbill with the Braves, and Francis was charged with a 4-3 defeat in the opener. He allowed four runs -- all on three homers -- in four innings.
The veteran lefty is 3-2 with a 4.99 ERA in eight career starts on three days' rest, all coming last year when the Rockies experimented with a four-man rotation. Francis has won his last two start at Chase Field, compiling a 2.45 ERA.
It's unclear if the Diamondbacks will have Didi Gregorius back after he suffered a contusion to the right temple after being hit near the top of the helmet with a pitch from reliever Josh Outman on Friday. The team listed him as day-to-day, and manager Kirk Gibson suggested that the seven-day disabled list is a possibility.
The rookie shortstop, who is 11 for 27 with two homers, is expected to undergo further tests.
Miguel Montero is 3 for 26 over his last seven games, but he's 5 for 11 with a homer off Francis in his career.
