Rockies Line-up: July 31 2012, Jeff Francis = Ace

The Rockies will leave July behind after tonight, and the month will not be missed by many. Colorado has gone 7-16 in July, good (or bad) for a .304 winning percentage keeping trend with the down turn this season has taken with 11 wins in April, 10 in May, 9 in June and 7 in July with one game remaining. Jeff Francis closes out July as the lone bright spot for the Rockies, of the 12 pitchers that have started a game for the 2012 Rockies, Francis (3-2)  is the only one with a winning record. In the 10 games started by Francis the Rockies have gone 8-2, since Francis made his 2012 debut on June 9th, the Rockies are 5-28 in games not started by Francis. In his has start Francis went 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, throwing 97 pitches and getting the victory against the D-Backs. With a victory tonight Francis will be the second winningest Rockies pitcher, he is currently tied at 58 with Jason Jennings and trails Aaron Cook who has 72.

Kyle Lohse starts for the Cardinals and enters the game with a 10-2 record and a 2.71 ERA. Lohse has not lost since June 15 and is 4-0 with a 2.22 ERA in his last seven starts, and has 10 quality starts in a row. This will be his 5th career start at Coors Field and comes in with a 1-3 record and a 6.43 ERA. His lone win came last May pitching 6 innings with 2 runs allowed in a 4-3 victory.

Todd Helton has had the most experience against Lohse and the most success going 10-24 (.417) with one home run and 4 doubles. Carlos Gonzalez has 4 hits off Lohse in 11 at bats (.364 average) with one home run.

Eric Young (S) CF
Josh Rutledge (R) SS
Carlos Gonzalez (L) LF
Michael Cuddyer (R) RF
Todd Helton (L) 1B
Wilin Rosario (R) C
Jordan Pacheco (R) 3B
DJ LeMahieu (R) 2B
Jeff Francis (L) P

Former Rockies star Matt Holliday has gone 3-6 with one home run against Francis in his career and has a .357/.423/.648 slash line in 366 career games at Coors Field.

Daniel Descalso (L) SS
Allen Craig (R) 1B
Matt Holliday (R) LF
Carlos Beltran (S) RF
David Freese (R) 3B
Yadier Molina (R) C
Jon Jay (L) CF
Skip Schumaker (L) 2B
Kyle Lohse (R) P