The Colorado Rockies had a wild weekend, taking three of four from the Arizona Diamondbacks, essentially thwarting their hopes of a Wild Card berth. And not only did they win three games, but they came back from pretty sizable deficits in the later innings of Saturday’s and Sunday’s contests. In total, the Rockies have won five of their last six games and a win tonight would match their season-long win streak of four. They also captured their fifth series win since the All-Star Break, and have won consecutive
series for the second time this season.
That said, the Diamondbacks have been hovering around .500 all year and were major sellers at the trade deadline. The Rockies will face a much more formidable foe for the next four days: the Los Angeles Dodgers. Not only are the Dodgers 71-53, but they just swept the San Diego Padres and retook control of the NL West. This is not to say that the Rockies can’t play spoiler again — weird things always do happen at Coors Field, especially against division rivals — but they will have to work a lot harder to keep up their momentum and stifle the Dodgers’.
Kyle Freeland (3-12, 5.18 ERA) will take the mound for the Rockies. In his last outing in St. Louis, Freeland tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing five hits and three free passes (one hit batter and two walks) with two strikeouts in the 3-0 victory. He has not faced the Dodgers yet this year, but owns a career 5-11 record and 4.81 ERA in 24 games against them.
Freeland will face Dodgers’ right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (10-8, 2.84 ERA). In his last outing in Anaheim, Yamamoto threw just 4 2/3 innings and allowed six runs on six hits with five walks, one hit batter and six strikeouts in the 7-4 loss. He faced the Rockies earlier this season at Coors Field on June 25, pitching five shutout innings while allowing just one hit, one walk and six strikeouts. The Dodgers won that game 8-1. Yamamoto has faced the Rockies four times and has a 3-0 record and 3.32 ERA.
Which team will stop the other’s momentum?
First Pitch: 6:40 p.m. MT
TV: Rockies.tv
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM, KNRV 1150 AM (Spanish)
Lineups:
