Rockies-Reds Preview

May 3, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Johnny Cueto (47) pitches during the third inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rockies are a high power offense and one of the pleasant surprise in the majors this season.But when they play the Reds in Cincinnati tonight to begin a three-game series, they are facing the hottest starting pitcher in baseball.

Through seven starts, Reds ace Johnny Cueto only has a 3-2 record but leads the Majors with a 1.31 ERA and a .132 opponent’s batting average.

Cueto also has pitched eight or more innings in each of his last four appearances, including two complete games. During Saturday’s 6-2 win over the Brewers, he allowed three hits over eight innings — including two solo homers.

“I feel really strong,” Cueto said. “I’m really healthy. I’ve been working for this.”

Cincinnati will need Cueto to have a stopper performance after the Reds were swept Wednesday in a two-game series at Boston with a pair of one-run games defeats.The high-octane Rockies are fresh off taking three of four games from the Rangers, with third baseman Nolan Arenado leading the way as he extended his hitting streak to a club-record 28 games.

Arenado started his trek to the record on April 9. He tied the mark set last season by Michael Cuddyer with a two-run double on Wednesday night. During the streak, Arenado, who went 1-for-4 Thursday night, is hitting .360 (40-of-111) with four home runs, 10 doubles and 19 RBIs.

Jhoulys Chacin will make his second start of the season for Colorado. Chacin made his debut Sunday, and it was a struggle. In a 5-1 loss to the Mets, he allowed four runs, eight hits and five walks.

The Rockies took two of three games from the Reds in both series last season.

First pitch is at 7:10pm, TV : FSN OHIO, RADIO: 700 WLW.

NOTES: Over his past two rehab assignment games, closer Aroldis Chapman allowed eight earned runs and seven hits over a combined one inning for Triple-A Louisville on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Reds were planning on activating Chapman from the disabled list for tonight’s series opener, completing his comeback from a line drive to the face on March 19.

But a return is not guaranteed.

“We want to get some feedback from the people that had a chance to see him,” manager Bryan Price said. “He obviously wasn’t terribly sharp. He got hit, walked a couple of guys, hit a guy, so it wasn’t an excellent outing. We would like him, when we activate him, to be ready to go.”

When the Rockies began the year with six outfielders, right-handed-hitting Drew Stubbs spent many games simply hoping for playing time. Now, he has joined a team-wide hot streak.

Stubbs, a Reds center fielder from 2009-12 and their ’06 first-round Draft pick, had multiple hits on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights against the Rangers.