Reds, Rockies close set with DH
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(SportsNetwork.com) - Right-hander Dylan Axelrod gets another chance to make his Cincinnati debut on Sunday night when the Reds visit Coors Field to wrap up a water-impacted series with the Colorado Rockies.
The teams played Thursday and Friday nights without a hitch, but a scheduled third game of the four-game series on Saturday was scrubbed after a water main break outside of the stadium.
The teams will play a split doubleheader on Sunday afternoon and night.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Saturday's game was initially delayed by 30 minutes, but then postponed because the water main break endangered water supply to restrooms and concessions inside. The Rockies said the rupture at 20th and Blake streets "terminated the supply of water to Coors Field rendering the restrooms and concession stands inoperable."
Axelrod, who will start game two for the Reds, steps into the rotation slot of Homer Bailey, whom the team said earlier this week would go to the disabled list with a strained right elbow.
Axelrod spent three seasons with the Chicago White Sox and made 48 appearances on the big league level, including 30 starts. He won seven of 20 decisions and posted a 5.36 earned run average for the White Sox in the majors and spent the initial portion of 2014 at Triple-A Charlotte before becoming Reds property after a July 17 trade.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He was 6-7 in 16 starts at Charlotte and has since gone 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA in five starts at Cincinnati's Triple-A affiliate in Louisville.
He has never faced Colorado and could be helped by the return of offensive firepower in the form of Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco, who share the team lead with 20 home runs. Neither started Friday -- Frazier thanks to a sore back and Mesoraco because of a scheduled rest day.
Going for Colorado against Axelrod in the nightcap is rookie Yohan Flande, who'll make another attempt at a first career victory.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The left-hander was beaten, 4-1, on Tuesday against San Diego while allowing just four hits and two runs across six solid innings.
In four starts at Coors Field, he's allowed 17 runs in 20 2/3 innings.
Colorado's Jordan Lyles gets the call in the opener and will pitch for the third time since he missed a month with a fracture in his left hand. In two starts since coming back, he's 1-0 with a 4.76 ERA.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In five career meetings with the Reds, Lyles is 3-1 with a 5.22 ERA, including an 11-2 win on May 10 in which he allowed two runs in six innings.
Opposite Lyles in game one will be Cincinnati right-hander Mat Latos who allowed a run in seven innings on Tuesday against Boston, but ultimately got a no-decision in a game the Reds lost late.
He's pitched at least seven innings in each of three starts this month, and allowed just five hits and a walk against Boston before Jonathan Broxton's served up a two-run home run to Yoenis Cespedes in the eighth inning.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He's 5-2 with a 3.63 ERA in eight career starts against the Rockies.
Colorado, which has won just four of its last 19 games, used six pitchers in Friday's game after scheduled starter Franklin Morales was scratched.