MLB Game Preview - Colorado at Cincinnati

Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:40 PM EDT

The final leg of the Colorado Rockies' 10-game road trip will begin with the club in an unfamiliar spot: coming off a rare high after staging a ninth-inning rally to record just its second win in its last 11 outings.

The Rockies aim to build off that momentum on Friday, when they open a three-game series against the Reds in Cincinnati.

Ian Desmond tied the game with a homer to lead off the ninth and Daniel Murphy plated the go-ahead run later in the inning as the two former Nationals sparked an 8-7 victory over host Washington on Thursday.

"After we've kind of been beat around this past month, it seems like for guys to continue to fight, to continue to have hope, to continue to just keep going, it's a good sign," the 33-year-old Desmond told reporters after the game.

Murphy displayed that energy while racing down the first-base line during his fielder's choice that scored Charlie Blackmon with the go-ahead run in the ninth.

"I was running like someone who didn't want to play extra innings," the 34-year-old Murphy said. "After the (doubleheader Wednesday), I didn't want to go extras. Get down the line."

Blackmon carries a six-game hitting streak into Friday's encounter with All-Star right-hander Luis Castillo (9-3, 2.36 ERA), who most recently allowed one run on five hits in six innings in a no-decision versus St. Louis last Saturday.

Castillo struggled in his lone career start against Colorado on July 3, 2017, surrendering two homers and four runs total on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 5-3 setback at Coors Field.

Joey Votto will look to provide Castillo with some support, as the veteran slugger has 10 hits and six RBIs in his last seven games. Votto had one of each with a run-scoring single in Cincinnati's 5-4 setback to Milwaukee on Wednesday.

Votto will test his mettle against right-hander German Marquez (9-5, 4.99), who answered a disastrous 11-run, 11-hit shellacking vs. San Francisco on July 15 by allowing just two runs on three hits in seven innings of an 8-4 victory against the New York Yankees on Sunday.

Marquez won his lone career meeting with the Reds after permitting one run on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks in seven innings in 2018.

Whether Marquez faces Nick Senzel on Friday is in question, as the Cincinnati rookie outfielder exited the series finale with the Brewers on Wednesday with what the team termed as an "illness."

"I'm just ill. I don't feel very good," the 24-year-old Senzel told the media. "First pitch I swung at, I just got dizzy. I had to take my time and it didn't get any better."

Dizzy spells are nothing new for Senzel, who sat out a month last season with Triple-A Louisville because of vertigo.

Senzel, who is batting a robust 13-for-36 since the All-Star break, went 4-for-11 with three extra-base hits (one double, two triples) with three runs scored as Cincinnati dropped two of three at Colorado on July 12-14.

Phillip Ervin likely would be inserted into the lineup if Senzel was unable to play.

Ervin went 6-for-6 to tie a franchise record in the Reds' 17-9 win over the Rockies on July 13. The six-hit performance marked the fourth time a Cincinnati player accomplished the feat and the first since Walker Cooper on July 6, 1949.

--Field Level Media