Rockies building momentum ahead of series opener vs. Brewers

The Colorado Rockies had gone more than a month without winning a series before they took two of three games from the San Francisco Giants last weekend.

The Rockies followed that effort by winning two of three games against the Los Angeles Angels.

Colorado will go for its third straight series victory when it opens a three-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night in Denver.

Ryan Feltner (2-1, 4.85 ERA) will be on the mound for the Rockies in his second start since coming off the injured list. Milwaukee will counter with fellow right-hander Brandon Sproat (1-4, 6.24).

Colorado has improved since last season's low point, when it lost 119 games, but has bigger goals than avoiding another 100-loss season.

"Win more baseball games. I think we all want to do that. I think we're headed in the right direction," Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman said after Wednesday's 11-4 loss to the Angels. "The last two series have been really good, and hopefully we can keep this momentum going."

Feltner pitched well Saturday in his last outing, tossing six scoreless innings in his first appearance since April 23. He spent a month on the IL with right ulnar nerve inflammation but found a rhythm in an 8-3 victory Saturday over San Francisco.

He needed just 63 pitches to get through six innings for his first win since April 6.

"The efficiency part wasn't even really a goal," Feltner said after the win. "It just happened organically because of my mental process. Also, I just feel really confident with my stuff in the zone right now. I don't have to nibble too much, and I think that elicits some weak contact early, which keeps the pitch count low."

Friday night will be Feltner's sixth career start against the Brewers; in his previous five outings, he is 1-1 with a 2.93 ERA.

Keeping up the series winning streak will be tough against surging Milwaukee. Despite dropping the last two games to the Giants, the Brewers have won 19 of their last 26 games and hold a 4 1/2-game lead in the National League Central.

Sproat, who will make his 10th start and 14th appearance this season, has failed to make it out of the fifth inning in five of his last six outings. He exited Saturday's 9-2 loss at Houston after allowing five runs in 4 1/3 innings.

"I think he took a step back. I don't think he was very good," Brewers manager Pat Murphy told reporters of Sproat. "We're not going to tolerate too many duds like this, that's for sure. If he's not going to step up -- we're trying to win. We're not rebuilding."

Sproat is a rookie who was acquired from New York along with shortstop Jett Williams in a January trade that sent Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers to the Mets.

Sproat will face the Rockies for the first time in his career.

--Field Level Media