Wacha puts spotless road record to ultimate test in Mile High City
For a long period of time, Michael Wacha couldn't buy a win in an opposing park. It's exactly the opposite now.
Looking to extend his road winning streak, Wacha gets the start Tuesday night against the Colorado Rockies, who trounced the major league-leading St. Louis Cardinals in the series opener.
Wacha (8-1, 2.18 ERA) won his first career road start on June 11, 2013, then failed to record another victory in his next 12 starts with St. Louis (38-20) dropping 10 of those contests.
His fortunes have reversed this season, as Wacha is 6-0 with a 1.59 ERA in seven road outings, each resulting in a Cardinals' victory. Wacha's road ERA and WHIP (1.01) both rank among the best in the league.
The right-hander continued that dominance by allowing one run in seven innings of a 7-1 win at the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.
"You could tell that he had a good game plan," manager Mike Matheny told MLB's official website. "I think he just had the whole package, and when you can do that and have four pitches you can throw in different spots on the plate, it's really hard to pattern somebody."
Wacha doesn't have fond memories of his only start at Colorado (26-30), allowing four runs and a career-high 12 hits over 4 2/3 innings on Sept. 19, 2013.
Charlie Blackmon went 3 for 3 off him in that contest. Troy Tulowitzki took Wacha deep and also homered in Monday's series-opening 11-3 rout. Tulowitzki drove in three runs, DJ LeMahieu and Ben Paulsen each had three hits, and Nolan Arenado added his 14th home run.
Tulowitzki is 17 for 33 with five homers, 14 RBIs and 10 runs during an eight-game hitting streak.
"I'm getting better," Tulowitzki said. "But at the same time, I think I can be a lot better."
St. Louis has been limited to nine runs in its last four games and an injury to left fielder Matt Holliday won't help any. Holliday, fourth on the team with 26 RBIs, left the series opener with a right quadriceps strain and his status is uncertain.
"We don't know the extent right now," Matheny said. "We'll just have to wait and see."
Colorado will try to make it 12 wins in 18 games behind Jorge De La Rosa (2-2, 6.15).
The left-hander was effective for the second time in three starts last Tuesday, yielding three runs over six innings in a 6-3 victory over the Dodgers. He posted a 9.56 ERA in his first four starts.
"I tried to stay calm and just throw the ball to (catcher Michael) McKenry," De La Rosa said. "That's the thing that works."
De La Rosa, who has an 8.44 ERA in five home starts this season, is 3-0 in three career starts against the Cardinals at Coors Field despite a 4.58 ERA.
A victory in one of the next two games would give the Rockies their first home series win of the season.
