Giants Prepare To Host Ailing Rockies

(AP) -- Despite their place at the bottom of the NL West, the Colorado Rockies have shown some fight following a lengthy stretch of losses.

After finding their offense within the favorable confines of Coors Field at the back end of a homestand, the Rockies look to maintain that potency in Friday night's opener of a three-game road series against the San Francisco Giants.

The Rockies (32-40) made the most of their home field's offensive advantages by averaging 7.6 runs while winningfour of five after losing three in a row to begin an eight-game stay at Coors.

Nolan Arenado and Troy Tulowitzki each homered in a 6-4 win over Arizona on Thursday, and Arenado now has 20 home runs and 60 RBIs - both ranking toward the top of MLB.

Colorado had dropped five straight and nine of 10 before its home surge. The Rockies have four losing streaks of four or more this season, including an 11-game skid April 28-May 13. Most of the damage done on those slides came on the road, where the Rockies have gone 9-18 since sweeping San Francisco (40-34) at AT&T Park from April 13-15.

"We've done it several times this year - after a tough loss or a tough stretch, we find a way to get back off the canvas and win a game," manager Walt Weiss told MLB's official website. "We turned the momentum around, so it's a great win. We win the series with that one. Some guys had some big contributions today."

The solid stretch began with a strong outing from Chad Bettis (3-2, 3.44 ERA), who will again take the mound Friday. The right-hander struggled with five runs allowed in two innings against Houston on June 15 before settling in for three shutout innings, then carried that into a five-hit performance in a 5-1 win against Milwaukee on Saturday.

"I felt I had really good stuff (against Houston) and wanted to build off that," Bettis said. "I didn't want to go completely back to the whiteboard and rewrite everything. Working on the side in between the starts was productive."

Bettis posted a 6.88 ERA and 1.83 WHIP through the first 69 1-3 innings of his career, but he's enjoyed an emergence in 2015 with a 1.23 WHIP and 2.87 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which both mark career bests.

He'll oppose Tim Hudson (5-6, 4.52), who has a 3.56 ERA in five starts since he was shelled by Colorado for eight runs in 3 2-3 innings on May 24. Bettis earned the win in that matchup with seven strikeouts in 8 1-3 innings of an 11-2 victory.

Hudson allowed only two runs in a 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday, but has a 7.13 ERA and 0-2 record in three outings against Colorado this year.

Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez have each taken the right-hander deep, while Arenado has a double and a triple. Gonzalez was held out the starting lineup for three straight games with a sprained hand, but expects to return against San Francisco.

Hudson has received six or more runs of support in two of his last three outings and will pitch in front of an offense that broke out for a 13-8 win Thursday over San Diego.

Angel Pagan, Buster Posey and Brandon Belt notched three hits apiece, and Gregor Blanco drove in three runs.

"We needed it," manager Bruce Bochy said after the Giants posted season bests in both runs and hits with 19. "We haven't had a game like this for a while."

Updated June 26, 2015