Astros Fall 5-1 to Rockies

Denver, CO (Sports Network) – Jason Hammel pitched 7 1/3 scoreless frames and Colorado rolled over Houston, 5-1, in the first of four games at Coors Field.

Hammel (3-3) scattered six hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Clint Barmes drove home two runs for the Rockies, who have won two straight.

Wandy Rodriguez (3-8) was the loser, giving up three runs on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts over seven innings. Geoff Blum’s ninth-inning single accounted for Houston’s lone run. The Astros have lost two of three.

Colorado put up a two-spot in the home second as Miguel Olivo led off with a single and raced to third on Melvin Mora’s one-out single. Barmes then doubled both runners home with a two-bagger to left.

In the home third, Ryan Spilborghs doubled, scampered to third on Troy Tulowitzki’s single and scored on Brad Hawpe’s force out on a grounder to second.

Colorado added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of eighth. Hawpe’s 11th double of the campaign started the proceedings then Olivo drilled a pitch into the right-center-field gap for an RBI triple. Todd Helton then skied a sacrifice fly to left for a 5-0 advantage.

Geoff’s Blum’s RBI single in the ninth put Houston on the scoreboard, but Manny Corpas struck out Jason Michaels with the bases loaded to end the contest.

Olivo hit his fourth triple of the season…Hammel lowered his earned run average to 5.23…Corpas saved his seventh contest of the season.

Tonight's Game: Houston Astros (22-35) at Colorado Rockies (29-27), 7:40 p.m. CT

(Sports Network) - Offense hasn't been the Houston Astros' strength this season, but they were able to swing the bats well over a recently-completed homestand.

That has Houston looking for a sixth victory in seven games this evening, when it begins a four-game series versus the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

The Astros head to Denver after a 5-2 homestand in which they scored five runs or more five times. Not bad for a club that ranks 28th in the majors with just 188 runs scored, ahead of only the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Houston capped its residency with a 6-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday in the rubber match of a three-game series. Carlos Lee highlighted a three-run first inning with a two-run homer, while Pedro Feliz knocked in a pair of runs during a three-run sixth.

"It was a good homestand for us," Lance Berkman told Houston's website. "If we want to get ourselves back to respectability, we have to capitalize on our home-field advantage, and we did that this homestand."

Starter Brett Myers backed the offense with 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball, striking out six batters. Matt Lindstrom closed things out with his 13th save of the season.

Houston will try to remain hot in the opener of a 10-game road trip, but the Astros are just 8-15 as the guest this year and have dropped nine of their last 11 on the road.

They did win two of three from the Rockies in their lone visit to Colorado last year and split a two-game series at home versus the Rockies from May 19-20. Overall, the Astros have won six of their last eight versus the Rockies.

Wandy Rodriguez will try to win consecutive outings for the first time this season after the Astros left-hander snapped a three-start losing streak Wednesday versus Washington. He held the Nationals to just a run on five hits and three walks over five innings, while striking out a season-high eight in his first victory since May 12.

Rodriguez improved to 3-7 with a 5.07 earned run average on the season, but the 31-year-old is a mere 1-4 with a 5.85 ERA in six road starts. In nine career starts versus the Rockies, Rodriguez is 4-2 with a 4.31 ERA.

Though the Astros have struggled on the road this year, the good news is that they'll miss Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez in this set after the righty picked up his major-league leading 11th victory in a 3-2 triumph over the Diamondbacks on Sunday.

Jimenez ran his scoreless-innings streak to 33 straight frames before allowing a two-run homer to Conor Jackson in the eighth inning, but he still leads all of baseball with a 0.93 ERA and helped his club snap a three-game slide in Sunday's finale of a three-game series.

"It's obviously another unbelievable performance," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "I don't have a lot of words to describe to you what this man is doing up to this point and time in the season."

Carlos Gonzalez drove in two runs while Troy Tulowitzki added a solo homer for the Rockies, who hope that Jason Hammel can turn in a third straight strong outing this evening.

The right-hander beat the Diamondbacks with 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball on May 27 and then limited the Giants to a run on seven hits without a walk over 6 2/3 innings on Tuesday. However, he got a no-decision in his team's 2-1 extra-inning victory.

Hammel is 2-3 with a 6.09 ERA this season, and the 27-year-old has split two career starts versus the Astros with a 2.19 ERA.