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COL@CIN: Friedrich strikes out six over five frames

Two pitchers who get batters out in very different ways will take the mound Wednesday for the Astros and Rockies.

The Astros' Lucas Harrell likes to pitch to contact. The Rockies' Christian Friedrich prefers to make batters swing and miss.

In his last start, Harrell outdueled the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner. Harrell pitched into the eighth inning for the first time in his career, giving up one run on five hits.

Astros manager Brad Mills said Harrell's pitches on Friday had a lot of movement.

"I'm kind of excited to see him this next outing after the outing he had against the Dodgers on Friday night," Mills said.

Remarkably, Harrell didn't make a single Dodger swing and miss. He was just the seventh starter since 2000 to pitch more than seven innings, allow one run or less and not miss a single batter's bat.

"When I get a lot of contact is when I go deeper into the game," Harrell said after the game. "Today I made it into the eighth inning, and when I get contact that's really good for me. Strikeouts are nice, but I hope that I don't get a lot."

Friedrich, on the other hand, seeks the strikeout. In his first two starts this season, he struck out 17 total batters, which was the most for an active Major League pitcher in his first two games since Stephen Strasburg struck out 22 for the Nationals in 2010.

Friedrich's 10 strikeouts on May 14 are the game-high for a Rockies' pitcher this season.

The problem for Friedrich recently has been keeping opponents off of the scoreboard. He's given up 11 earned runs in his last 10 innings.

His last outing, against the Reds, started well. Through the third inning, he had struck out three batters and given up no runs. But the Reds scored three in the third.

"There are a lot of things I need to improve on, and one of them is fastball command," Friedrich said after the game. "I can't change my mechanics. I got too aggressive and left pitches up. So next time I need to try and stay within myself."

Astros: Streak of getting outhit ends
The Astros had been outhit in each of their last ten games before the nightcap of Monday's doubleheader. Their record in those games was 5-5.

The last time the Astros outhit their opponent before Monday night was May 17 against the Brewers. On the season, the Astros are 12-6 when outhitting their opponent, 6-21 when getting outhit and 4-0 when tied.

Rockies: Pacheco improving at third
After making the Opening Day roster, third baseman Jordan Pacheco had his share of struggles before being sent down to Triple-A Colorado Springs on April 15.

Since coming back, though, Pacheco is batting .301 with a homer and nine RBIs in 20 games. He had three RBIs in Game 1 on Monday, including an eighth-inning, two-RBI single that put the Rockies ahead for good.

"We're two months into the season, so I've probably got 200 at-bats between here and Colorado Springs, and it's nice to see a lot of pitching," Pacheco said. "The more pitches you see, the more comfortable you get."

Pacheco, a converted catcher, is also improving defensively.

Worth Noting
• Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler's game-winning RBI triple leaves him one behind Larry Walker for second place on the Rockies' all-time list at 43.

• Wandy Rodriguez, the Astros' starter in Game 1, pitched more than five innings for the 40th consecutive start. That's the third-longest active streak in the Majors, behind C.C. Sabathia's 70-start streak and Justin Verlander's 62-start streak.

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