April 13, 2008 11:32 PM

Opposing an old friend

The Rockies will close their current road trip Sunday in Houston where Shawn Chacon is scheduled to start for the Astros.

And, no, Chacon won't be wearing No. 1. Signed on Feb. 20 to a one-year, $2 million contract, Chacon came to camp and said equipment manager Dennis Liborio gave him a choice of uniforms. Chacon could wear No. 1 or No. 72. Chacon said he didn't want to wear a football lineman's number, so he opted for No. 1, knowing that when cuts were made, he would have a chance to pick up a uniform number more to his liking. Chacon is wearing No. 30. That number was worn in spring training by outfielder Yordany Ramirez, who is now at Triple-A Round Rock.

A slew of numbers were unavailable to Chacon because they have been retired by the Astros. They include No. 5 (Jeff Bagwell), No. 24 (Jimmy Wynn), No. 25 (Jose Cruz), No. 32 (Jim Umbricht), No. 33 (Mike Scott), No. 34 (Nolan Ryan) and No. 49 (Larry Dierker). Also the No. 42 worn by Jackie Robinson has been retired by every team, and the Astros will retire No. 7, worn by Craig Biggio.

Chacon, who is scheduled to make his third start of the season Tuesday at Philadelphia, began the season as Houston's fourth starter. He's 0-0 with a 3.75 ERA in two starts, pitching six innings in each. On April 3 in a 3-2 loss at San Diego, Chacon allowed five hits, two runs and four walks with four strikeouts. He gave up a two-run homer to Evergreen High School product Kevin Kouzmanoff in the first and then pitched five scoreless innings. Chacon left trailing 2-1, but the Astros tied the game in the seventh only to have the Padres scored what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of that inning off Oscar Villarreal.

Last Tuesday, Chacon made his first start for the Astros at Minute Maid Park. Facing St. Louis, he allowed four hits, three runs and four walks with two strikeouts.The game was tied at 3 when he left, and the Cardinals scored twice in the eighth to win 5-3.

Opponents are hitting just .225 against Chacon, who not surprisingly has allowed almost as many walks (8) as hits (9).

--Jack Etkin

Posted by Jack Etkin at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)