Wounded Rockies welcome Phillies to Coors Field

Injuries are beginning to pile up for a Colorado Rockies club fighting for the top spot in the NL West.

Troy Tulowitzki is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks with a broken rib, Carlos Gonzalez is hampered by a sore left foot and Dexter Fowler has a bruise on his right hand.

Gonzalez and Fowler are listed as day-to-day for the Rockies, who will open a three-game series versus the Philadelphia Phillies Friday at Coors Field. All three of Colorado's main weapons went down in Thursday's 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals; Tulowitzki departed in the eighth inning after diving for a ground ball and an MRI revealed the extent of the injury.

"When he came off, it was very evident he was done," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said of his star shortstop, who is third in the majors in hitting (.347) and has 16 homers with 51 RBI.

CarGo was hit on the left foot by a foul ball while on deck in the first inning and Fowler took a Ross Detwiler pitch off his right hand in the third inning. Nolan Arenado led the Rockies with two hits and Matt Belisle was dealt the loss for giving up two runs in the eighth inning after a 3-3 tie.

Jeff Francis started for Colorado and lasted six innings, permitting two runs and five hits with eight strikeouts and no walks.

"It's hard to be really happy when you don't win the game," Francis said.

Even though Colorado has dropped two in a row, it is still a decent 7-5 in the past 12 games. The Rockies are even with San Francisco at 2 1/2 games behind Arizona for the division lead and have a 3-4 mark on this 10-game homestand.

Juan Nicasio looks to get the Rox back in the win column when he takes the mound Friday versus the Phillies. Nicasio has never faced Philadelphia and is 4-2 in 13 starts with a 4.61 earned run average. He is only 0-1 in his previous four starts with back-to-back no-decisions, including Sunday's 8-7 win over San Diego. He had seven K's and allowed two runs in six innings.

Nicasio, a right-hander, has given Colorado at least five innings of work in seven straight appearances and is 2-1 in six starts at Coors Field.

Philadelphia was able to halt its five-game losing streak with Thursday's 3-2 win in the finale of a three-game series at Minnesota.

The Phillies had dropped five straight since a season-high five-game winning streak and have starting pitcher Cliff Lee to thank for halting the slide. Lee was solid through seven innings and gave up two runs and three hits with six strikeouts and one walk. Lee, though, needed an eighth-inning rally to secure his eighth win of the season (8-2).

Michael Young had an RBI single and former Twin Ben Revere, who went 4-for-6 with two runs scored, crossed the plate for the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice by Jimmy Rollins.

"Us putting two across was huge," Lee said. "Regaining the lead was real big. All game it seemed like we got a ton of hits and somehow never scored, but we scored when we needed to."

Mike Adams, who took the loss in the opener with Minnesota, threw a scoreless eighth inning and Jonathan Papelbon fanned two batters in the ninth for his 12th save.

Ryan Howard had three hits for the Phillies and they are now 2-5 on a 10-game road trip and 16-20 away from Citizens Bank Park. Domonic Brown has cooled off from his sizzling streak and owns just one hit and one RBI in the last four games (1-for-13).

Taking the mound for the Phillies Friday will be Kyle Kendrick. Kendrick had a personal two-start win streak come to an end in Saturday's 4-3 loss at Milwaukee and he was reached for three runs and eight hits in six innings. Kendrick was coming off a complete-game performance June 3 versus Miami and is 2-3 in his last five starts. He is 6-4 overall in 13 starts with a 3.22 ERA.

Kendrick has faced Colorado nine times (8 starts) and is 3-2 with a 4.63 ERA.

The Phillies and Rockies are meeting for the first time since Philadelphia won seven of nine matchups a season ago. The Phils are riding a five-game winning streak in this series.