SAN DIEGO -- The Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres meet in a four-game series at Petco Park this weekend, and the Thursday night opener features two pitchers at the opposite ends of their career.Veteran Clayton Richard, who turns 33 next Monday, will be making his sixth start in his second tour with the Padres. It will be the 202nd appearance of his major league career.Rockies rookie Jeff Hoffman, 23, will be making his fourth-ever major league start.The pitchers have one thing in common other than their identical6-foot-5 heights.Both are pitching with an eye for a job in 2017.The Padres and the Rockies are looking to the future, using the final month of the season as an audition.The San Diego rotation needs a major overhaul going into the 2017 season. Right now, only right-hander Luis Perdomo seems to have a lock on a starting spot going into spring training. Right-hander Tyson Ross would have a spot locked ... if his most recent appearance werent the season opener.Were looking at everyone on this roster with an eye on 2017, said manager Andy Green, who committed the Padres to a six-man rotation for the final month of the season until right-hander Jarred Cosart sustained both a right groin strain and a right hamstring strain on the same play while covering first base Wednesday night.Will San Diego stick with a six-man rotation? Not if Cosart is out.To have a six-man rotation, you need six starting pitchers, Green said Wednesday night while saying the severity of Cosarts injury wont be known until later in the week. Hint: Cosart will miss at least one start.Which could be good news for Richard, who is the Padres hottest starter at the moment. Since signing with San Diego on Aug. 1 as a free agent, Richard is 1-2 with a 1.48 ERA in six appearances (four starts). Adding in 25 relief outings for the Chicago Cubs earlier this year, he is 1/3 with a 3.29 ERA overall.Over his past three starts, Richard has allowed one earned run on 19 hits and five walks with 12 strikeouts in 18 innings. That is a 0.50 ERA.Im really happy to be back in San Diego, Richard said. Id love to stay and help their vision for the future.Actually, Richard might be perfect for the role. Green has said that part of his development plan for the young Padres is to have a select corps of veterans to provide guidance. A former University of Michigan quarterback who was with the Padres from 2009 to 2013, Richard is seen as a strong leader.Its been great having him around, said Christian Friedrich, another left-handed member of the current San Diego rotation.As for Hoffman, he is 0-2 with a 6.60 ERA in his first three starts for the Rockies. Thursday night could be different, though. The Padres will be the first major league team that Hoffman faces that is not in first place.Hes faced a tough schedule while getting his feet on the ground,Rockies manager Walt Weiss said of Hoffman.Before being promoted to the Rockies, Hoffman was 6-9 with a 4.02 ERA in 22 starts for Triple-A Albuquerque. Hoffman, who is two years removed from Tommy John surgery, was ranked among the top 50 prospects in the minor leagues this season.The right-hander was part of the package the Rockies received last year in the trade that sent reliever LaTroy Hawkins and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to the Toronto Blue Jays.The Padres are 7-5 against the Rockies thus far this season with a4-2 edge at Petco Park.Ron Francis Jersey . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. 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After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p.BOSTON -- All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas said those who believe the Boston Celtics are better without him dont even believe what theyre saying.Thomas, sidelined by a groin injury, wasnt with the team when it posted a lopsided 117-87 victory over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night. That led to speculation on Boston sports radio and local TV about whether Boston might be better without Thomas because of the ball movement the team displayed in his absence.Asked if hed heard any of the chatter before Fridays 101-94 loss to the Toronto Raptors, Thomas downplayed it.Theyre a better team without me. The ball moves better without me. I see it all, Thomas said. They gotta write something. They say the stupidest things so they get the headlines and everybody can talk about it. I cant control that. At this point, I laugh about it now. Because its like, if you really think that, OK, thats fine. I know what I mean to my teammates, I know what I mean to this organization and to (coach) Brad Stevens. The ball moved a little better without me. I guess so.Added Thomas: It is what it is. But people that say that, they dont even believe it. They go home at night, theyre not believing that. Theyre just saying it to get a reaction. Im trying my best not to react. If it was anybody else, we wouldnt be talking about that. Im 5-9, thats the only reason why they say that. Im fine with that. I know what I bring to the table. My teammates know what I bring. As long as they are happy, Im fine. Im not going to react. I try not to. I try to think of what Kobe [Bryant] said: Be a lion. Just lock in and dont worry about what others say.Thomas, who missed his second consecutive game Friday against the Raptors, is hoping to be back on the floor Wednesday when Boston visits the San Antonio Spurs in a national TV game on ESPN.Thomas strained his groin late in the first half of Mondays loss to the Houston Rockkets.dddddddddddd. He flew home to Boston early and received a platelet-rich plasma injection Wednesday. Thomas is hoping to travel with the team on a two-game road trip that starts Sunday in Oklahoma City, even as team decision-makers encourage him to take it slow in his recovery.I want to play but [team brass] keep telling me no, Thomas said. They keep wanting to be very patient with this because they dont want to reinjure it. Its an injury that can get reinjured and be a problem the rest of the season. So I dont want that. And on top of that, it gives me time to heal all the other injuries I have.Asked who might make the final determination about when he can return to action after hes medically cleared, Thomas suggested it was team president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.The big dog, Danny, hes really not in favor of [me] going [on the upcoming trip], but Im trying to convince him to just let me go, Thomas said. I think they -- if Im there, they know Im going to try to play. Im shooting for Wednesday for the most part. I think thats more realistic than Sunday. Hopefully I can play on Wednesday.Thomas is hopeful the plasma?injection will expedite his return and said Friday was one of the days where its felt its best.Stevens noted that a groin strain can typically sideline a player for 10-14 days, but believes Thomas will be back sooner.Weve talked about Isaiah being pretty ambitious in his return, said Stevens. And hes been getting treatment around the clock, so well see. Hell be officially listed as day-to-day.Added Stevens: Our medical staff is great. ... They feel like hes not looking long term. Its not going to be a long-term [injury], for sure. We have to make sure we dont bring him back [Friday] or too soon so that it doesnt become one. ' ' '