This Friday the (65-90) Colorado Rockies and the (107-48) Los Angeles Dodgers will play game one of this six-game series. The first pitch will be thrown out at 10:10 PM EST inside Dodger Stadium. This will be the final series of the regular season for both of these teams. The last time they matched up, the Dodgers ended up taking three of four games.
The Colorado Rockies are coming into this one after losing their previous series to the San Francisco Giants. The Rockies struggled on the mound in the first two games, as they gave up 11 combined runs. Their pitching rotation will have to be better if they want to give the Dodgers a challenge late in the regular season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are entering this one after a tough series with the Padres. They picked up a win in game two, as they were able to shut out the Padres. They will need to stay hot on the mound if they want to take care of bus iness against the Rockies in the final series of the regular season.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Colorado Rockies are 3-7 in their last 10 games played, as they have continued to fall in the wrong direction. They are also still in last place in the NL West, as they trail the first-place Dodgers by 42.0 games. Colorado won't be making the postseason in 2022, as they are also 18.5 games back from the Philadelphia Phillies for the third and final NL Wild Card spot.
At the plate, the Rockies are scoring 4.46 runs per game and they are hitting .256 as a team. This is the 12th most runs scored per game and the sixth-highest overall team batting average. They have struggled to drive in men when they are in scoring position this season. They have also realized that they don't have as much power inside their lineup. They are only hitting .93 bombs per game, which is the 23rd most in the MLB. I would watch for C.J. Cron at the plate, as he leads the team with 29 home runs this season. I also expect the Rockies to stay conservative once they have reached base safely. They have only stolen 43 bases this season, which is the third least in the league. They have allowed their bats to move baserunners into scoring position.
According to MLB.com, Colorado will start Chad Kuhl on the mound. He is currently 6-10 with a 5.45 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. In his last start, he pitched for 5.2 innings, but he gave up six hits and three earned runs to the Padres. The Rockie's bullpen has also had issues this season, as they are allowing the second most runs per game. As a team, the Rockies are surrendering 5.54 runs per game, which is the most in the MLB.