Braves' opponent: Colorado Rockies
Keep an eye on: Troy Tulowitzki. He is using a 19-game hitting streak to make his case for the NL Final Vote for the last spot on the NL All-Star roster. Entering play Wednesday night, Tulowitzki had hit .365 (27-for-74) with two doubles, two home runs and 12 RBIs over his 19-game hitting streak and trailed only Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto in the voting. Tulowitzki had also reached base in a career-high 34 straight games overall and was batting .320 on the season, fourth-best in the National League.
Who's hot: Charlie Blackmon, a product of Georgia Tech, was 8-for-his-past-17 (.471) entering Wednesday with two doubles and a homer in his previous four games.
Who's not: Nolan Arenado was 2-for-his-past-20 (.100) over the past seven days entering Wednesday.
Braves connection: The Braves will face David Hale, their 2009 third round pick from Marietta, Ga., on Friday night, just six months after trading him to the Rockies along with Gus Schlosser for minor league catchers Chris O'Dowd and Jose Briceno. Hale pitched in both the rotation and the bullpen for the Braves but was better as a starter. He went 3-1 with a 2.05 ERA in eight career starts with the Braves in 2013 and 2014. Former Braves shortstop Walt Weiss is in his third season as Rockies manager. He is 175-232 overall for a .430 winning percentage.
In the news: Arenado, the 24-year-old third baseman, became the youngest player in Rockies' franchise history to be chosen for the All-Star game. He and second baseman D.J. LeMahieu were both selected by the players' vote. Arenado has already won two Gold Glove awards, but it's his offense that has been a big part of his story this season too. Entering Wednesday, he was tied with Paul Goldschmidt for the major league lead in RBIs with 68 and he was fourth in the National League with 24 home runs.
