NL West rivals will begin an extended five-game series on Monday night at Petco Park with the Colorado Rockies visiting the San Diego Padres. Colorado is in fourth place at 46-57 after dropping three of four to the Los Angeles Dodgers including a 7-3 loss on Sunday as a +173 underdog. San Diego took two of three from the Minnesota Twins capped by a 3-2 victory on Sunday as a -137 favorite as it continues to hold a Wild Card spot at 57-46.
While the Padres have generally been the far better team this season, Colorado holds an 8-3 head-to-head advantage.
While the Rockies are always capable at home, they were outscored 28-12 in a four-game series against the mighty Dodgers, dropping three of four. Colorado was able to take a third inning lead in Sunday's finale thanks to a Brian Serven homer followed by a Randal Grichuk two-run single, but that was it for an offense that went 2-10 with runners in scoring position.
Starter German Marquez took the loss, allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out four in six innings. Grichuk had a multi-hit game as he also added a double.
“Some uncharacteristic things happened,” Rockies manager Bud Black said to the Associated Press. “You can’t do that against a good team.”
Colorado is now narrowly in negative territory on the money line for the year while going a strong 56-47 on the run line. Overs a re 48-50-5 for the Rockies, with six of their last seven games going under the betting total.
With its home park playing a big factor, the Rockies are 12th in scoring offense at 4.54 runs per game on a strong .731 team OPS. As in most years, Colorado pitching is a bottom three unit with a 4.88 collective ERA including a mark of 4.55 from the bullpen.
C.J. Cron is Colorado's best hitter, posting an .848 OPS with 22 homers and 71 RBI. Kris Bryant has also been effective when healthy, batting .310/.376/.481 with five homers and 27 runs scored across 41 games.
Antonio Senzatela will make his 16th start of the season, having gone 3-5 with a 4.90 across 71.2 innings overall. The 27-year-old pitched well last Wednesday against the Chicago White Sox, allowing three runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out five across 6.2 innings before getting removed as he was hit by a comebacker.
Colo rado is mostly healthy, although starting pitchers Ryan Rolison (shoulder surgery) and Helcris Olivarez (strained shoulder) are both out. The bullpen is missing Jholuys Chacin (toe), Tyler Kinley (strained elbow) and Scott Oberg (blood clot removal).