Sporting Kansas City-Rapids Preview

While Jermaine Jones was finishing up his suspension, the Colorado Rapids edged Sporting Kansas City last month to begin an unbeaten streak that's powered them to the league lead.

Jones has proved a catalyst during that run and will try to help Colorado match its best home start in Wednesday night's rematch with Kansas City.

Jones' debut with the Rapids following an offseason trade with New England was delayed by a six-game ban for making contact with a referee in the Revolution's playoff loss to D.C. United. He's made up for that lost time with three goals and an assist in his first four games for Colorado.

The midfielder scored in a 1-0 victory against visiting Real Salt Lake on Saturday, which moved the Rapids to 4-0-1 in their last five.

"He finds ways to impact the game from all different angles and today was a top-notch finish from what was a fantastic build-up, a great combination play. But his ability to get in good spots and deliver the goods has been spectacular for us," coach Pablo Mastroeni said.

"That's why he is where he is in his game, and that's why he'll be joining the national team and at 34, he's still a guy who has so much left in the tank and so much to offer."

Colorado (6-2-2) has won its first five home games for the first time since a 6-0 start in 1999, which also matches its longest win streak on its own field.

"It just feels like everyone is moving in the same direction," Mastroeni said. "It feels really good at the moment, but the only way to continue feeling that way is to keep working that hard and to keep fighting."

Kansas City (4-5-2) is 0-4-2 in its last six following a 2-0 loss at Western Conference cellar-dweller Houston on Saturday. That represents its longest winless stretch since a 10-gamer in 2011.

The club is 0-3-1 in its last four road games after winning the first two.

"I think any time you go through a stretch without winning games, it's always difficult," captain Matt Besler told the league's official website. "It's not fun. As players - and I'm sure the coaches will agree - we're all trying to do everything we can to turn things around.

"We're well aware that things can turn around very quickly, and if we put together a couple of results we can be right back where we want to be."

Shkelzen Gashi's first MLS goal gave Colorado a third straight win over Kansas City last month, and it came five minutes after Dom Dwyer tied it for Sporting KC in the 77th minute.

Dwyer, who has a team-best four goals and two assists, hasn't registered either in five games since that matchup.

Kansas City was unbeaten in five straight at Colorado until a 2-1 loss Aug. 29.