Diamondbacks-Rockies preview
DENVER -- Two former first-round picks chosen in the same draft will oppose each other when the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks meet Friday in the second game of a four-game series. Arizona right-hander Archie Bradley, the seventh overall pick in the 2011 draft, will make his eighth start of the season. Left-hander Tyler Anderson will make his third start of the season -- and his career -- for the Rockies. Colorado selected him 20th overall in 2011. Bradley is 3-3 with a 4.83 ERA but has allowed 34 hits and 20 walks in 41 innings. He has 44 strikeouts. In his last start, Bradley allowed one unearned run in six innings at Philadelphia on June 19 and won 5-1. The Diamondbacks are 3-1 in Bradley's four road starts, and he is 2-1 with a 4.03 ERA in those games. In two career starts against Colorado, Bradley is 1-0 with a 6.14 ERA. He earned a win at Coors Field on May 9, pitching six innings of four-run ball as Arizona rolled to a 10-5 victory. Anderson is 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA, having allowed 10 hits and three runs in 12 innings with no walks and 10 strikeouts. He made his major league debut June 12 at Coors Field against San Diego and allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings. Anderson took the loss in his last start, Sunday at Miami, when the Rockies fell 3-0. He yielded two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts. Anderson has not allowed a home run in his first two career starts. He missed the entire 2015 season after a second stress fracture in his left elbow was detected following the 2014 season, during which he was selected the Texas League Pitcher of the Year after going 7-4 with a 1.98 ERA in 23 starts. Anderson threw 92 pitches in his major league debut and 102 pitches in his start at Miami. He is not working with a strict pitch count, but manager Walt Weiss said Anderson's injury history is a consideration. "It's not a hard number or anything like that," Weiss said, referring to a pitch count for Anderson. "We do keep in mind that he's had a pretty unique injury, and we don't lose sight of those things when he takes the mound. "I felt like he held his command, held his velocity through 100 pitches (at Miami). So that's a good sign." The Diamondbacks are 6-5 against the Rockies this season and 6-1 on their current three-city trip to Philadelphia (4-0), Toronto (1-1) and Colorado (1-0). After watching a three-run lead vanish in the eighth inning but scoring in the ninth to beat the Rockies 7-6 on Thursday night, the Diamondbacks are 8-4 in their last 12 games at Coors Field, including 3-1 this season. "It's very difficult here," Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said. "It just seems like no lead is safe. That's why as the game goes on, you try to add on -- one, two (runs) here or there. You need to get up by more than three." |