By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Sports Writer

DENVER(AP) -- Jason Marquis is running out of time to find his
missing sinker.

The Rockies' All-Star right-hander had trouble with his release
point and took the loss Wednesday night when the San Diego
Padres beat Colorado 6-3.

He'll have two more starts to try to help the Rockies reach the
playoffs.

"Oh, plenty of time," Marquis insisted. "I'll work hard in
between starts, try to get the feel back. I might lighten up my
throwing a little bit, we're so deep into the season. I'll watch
some film, throw a nice light 'pen and try to get my feel back
for the bottom of the strike zone."

The Rockies' lead in the NL wild-card race was whittled to four
games over Atlanta, which beat New York 5-2, and San Francisco,
which beat Arizona 5-2.

With 10 games left, the Rockies' hearts aren't racing just yet.

"If we win the rest of our series, nobody catches us," manager
Jim Tracy declared.

That would start with a win over San Diego on Thursday night
when the Rockies send right-hander Jason Hammel (9-8) to the
mound against lefty Clayton Richard (8-5).

Then, former Rockies slugger Matt Holliday makes his first visit
to Coors Field as an opponent when the St. Louis Cardinals come
to Colorado for a three-game series.

There's a chance the Cards will clinch a playoff spot at their
hotel Thursday night, if the Chicago Cubs lose at San Francisco.
That could change the competitiveness of their weekend series at
Coors Field.

As the Padres proved Wednesday night, though, nothing's coming
easy for the Rockies.

By not swinging at Marquis' off-target sinkers early in the
count, they forced him to rely on his secondary pitches that
caught more of the plate.

That patience paid off, especially for Will Venable, who
hammered a flat slider for his 12th homer and added a three-run
triple off a meaty pitch in the fifth, giving San Diego a 5-0
lead.

His four RBIs tied a career high and helped the Padres snap
Colorado's eight-game home winning streak.

"That's been the thing that I've been working on the last couple
of days, just trying to tighten up the zone a little bit, just
wait for the pitch I know I can hit," Venable said.

Marquis allowed six runs, five of them earned, on five hits and
five walks before leaving with two outs in the fifth, failing
for the third time to win his career-best 16th game.

"I just wasn't getting ahead," he said. "If I get ahead, it
really doesn't matter what the other team's game plan is. I was
falling behind, too many hitters' counts and I had to come back
to the middle of the plate more times than I wanted to."

For the Rockies to clinch and do anything in the playoffs, it
would help if they had the Marquis who was 11-6 at the All-Star
break and not the version that's struggled with locating his
slider over the last month while going 1-4.

Venable hit a solo homer in the second, his 12th, and added a
three-run double in the fifth off Marquis, who failed for the
third time to win his career-best 16th game.

Reliever Ryan Webb (1-0) got the win with one inning of
scoreless relief and Heath Bell pitched the ninth for his 40th
save in 46 tries.

Right-hander Tim Stauffer took a no-hitter into the fifth inning
but left after allowing two runs on three hits, denying him the
victory because he only went 4 2-3 innings.

"As a (former) starting pitcher myself, that's not ideal,"
Padres manager Bud Black said.

But Stauffer had thrown 101 pitches.

"I think as that inning progressed I felt as though time was
running out for Tim. His pitch count was getting high and they
were taking some pretty good swings and I felt the consistency
from pitch to pitch just wasn't there," Black said.

Clint Barmes led off the inning with a double and scored on Seth
Smith's single. Tulowitzki chased Stauffer with an RBI single
that made it 6-2.

Stauffer said he knew he had thrown too many pitches, walking
four in the first two innings.

"We won, I can't say a lot of bad," Stauffer said. "I would of
liked to stuck in there longer, but any time you leave the game
on the winning side, it's a good thing."

Notes: The Rockies kept LF Carlos Gonzalez out of the lineup
because his left hamstring grabbed on him Tuesday night. ...
Venable's four RBIs tied his personal high he set on July 30 at
Cincinnati.