Rox's Guthrie set to return after rehab

Rockies veteran right-hander Jeremy Guthrie is expected to return to the Majors for his next start after pitching four scoreless innings in a rehab outing for Class A Advanced Modesto on Thursday.

Currently on the 15-day disabled list with a shoulder injury, Guthrie held the Stockton Ports to three hits, inducing six ground balls and a pair of grounders over four scoreless frames. He struck out four and walked one.

"Shoulder felt 100 percent healthy," Guthrie told the Denver Post. The paper also reported that Guthrie treated his new teammates to "some very good BBQ" after the game.

The 33-year-old, who is 2-1 with a 5.92 ERA through four starts this season in the Majors, lines up to make his next start on Tuesday for the Rockies against Tim Lincecum and the Giants.

"If he comes through it healthy, he will start," Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd told the Post before Guthrie's outing with Colorado's California League affiliate.

Guthrie worked around a single and a steal by Chad Oberacker in the first inning before issuing his only walk to Rashun Dixon in the second. He gave up a one-out single to Myrio Richard in the third and pitched around a one-out single from A.J. Kirby-Jones in the fourth, striking out Dixon to end the inning.

Roberto Padilla picked up the win in relief, working four innings, before Juan Perez pitched the ninth in Modesto's 13-3 rout. Dallas Tarleton had three hits and four RBIs and Corey Dickerson and Jayson Langfels each plated two runs to beat the A's affiliate.

The game marked Guthrie's first Minor League outing since 2006, when he went 9-5 with a 3.14 ERA in 21 games for Triple-A Buffalo.

Guthrie landed on the disabled list on April 28 after spraining his right shoulder when he fell off his bike during a ride to Coors Field -- the chain on his bike broke, sending him to the ground and the injury was later described as a bruised shoulder, specifically of his AC joint.

"It was a kind of a freak accident," Guthrie told the Denver Post. "Most of the contact was on my elbow and it kind of jammed my shoulder. I just have some pain, and when that goes away, I would assume, yes, I will be healthy in 15 days. It wasn't like the wheel slipped out. I was just riding and the next thing I know, I was on the ground."

Guthrie played catch from about 150 feet May 1 and had hoped to return from the DL on May 8, but ended up throwing a bullpen session May 6 and then faced hitters during batting practice earlier this week.