Dickerson gets breather with sore left wrist

DENVER -- With Corey Dickerson dealing with a sore left wrist from Tuesday's diving attempt and the Padres sending a left-hander to the mound, manager Walt Weiss' decision to sit his left fielder was "easy." Brandon Barnes got the start in left field.

Dickerson's left wrist got caught under his body when he laid out to catch Seth Smith's line drive with two outs in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday. Weiss said it was "a good sign" that Dickerson remained in the game and that his X-rays were negative.

"Any time you see that wrist get hung up underneath a guy in the outfield, you think the worst," Weiss said. "But when [head athletic trainer Keith Dugger] and I got out there, he passed all the tests."

Dickerson had his wrist wrapped and said his wrist strength felt good following the Rockies' 2-1 victory.

"I pulled it back really good," Dickerson said. "Luckily, I kept sliding and didn't stop. If it would have stuck, it could have been bad."

Weiss said it wasn't a sure thing that Dickerson would be sitting against left-hander Eric Stults Wednesday with the way that he's been hitting, but the injury forced his hand.

"I don't look at Corey as strictly a platoon guy, especially now with the way our outfield is set up," Weiss said. "I wasn't sure if I was going to get him a day off. One of the lefties was going to have to sit inevitably, but it made it easy with the sore wrist."

The Rockies can afford to rest Dickerson beyond Thursday's off-day too, with Carlos Gonzalez set to return Friday from left index finger inflammation.

First baseman Justin Morneau is also resting for Wednesday's rubber match against the Padres. Weiss confirmed it was a scheduled rest for Morneau with a day game after a night game.

"Plus, he's got to some campaigning to do," joked Weiss of the National League Final Vote candidate.