Rockies scratch Chatwood; Bettis moved up

NEW YORK -- Chad Bettis was shifted up a day to start for Colorado in place of Tyler Chatwood on Tuesday against the Mets. Chatwood was scratched because of left hamstring tightness, the team announced.

Chatwood first felt tightness during sprint work on Saturday in Pittsburgh. But he threw a bullpen session Tuesday at Citi Field and was able to throw all of his pitches. Chatwood said he isn't concerned about the tight hamstring being a more serious injury.

"I just threw a bullpen. I wanted to pitch today," Chatwood said. "They were being precautionary and pushed me back a couple days."

Chatwood has been one of the Rockies' most reliable starters this season, putting together a 7-4 record with a 3.15 ERA. The Braves roughed him up on Wednesday for seven earned runs on 10 hits in just 2 1/3 innings. But that was one of his few blips in an otherwise strong season.

Bettis was originally scheduled to start Wednesday night's game, which will now be started by Jhoulys Chacin. Tuesday will be Bettis' second Major League start after he struggled in his debut against Atlanta on Thursday, giving up five runs on six hits and five walks over five innings in an 11-2 loss.

Rockies manager Walt Weiss said if all goes well and Chatwood's hamstring doesn't get tight again, the plan is for him to start the series finale on Thursday.

"It's actually better than we thought it might be," Weiss said. "We'll push him back a couple days, no DL or anything like that."