Rockies at Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers have three left-handers in their starting
rotation with a combined record of 11-1. The Colorado Rockies are set to
face one of them and will be hard-pressed to avoid a three-game sweep
in Sunday’s series finale at Los Angeles. Ted Lilly is 9-2 in 13 career
starts against Colorado, including a 7-6 victory on May 1 when he
allowed two runs and four hits in six innings. It was the only time this
season he allowed as many as two runs. About the only batter Lilly
doesn’t want to face is Carlos Gonzalez, who has a remarkable five
homers among his seven hits in 17 at-bats.
The Rockies are 2-7 in
May and have scored an average of 3.0 runs on the road, worst in the
National League, en route to a 5-9 record away from Denver. Colorado’s
Alex White will make his 12th career start and pitched well in his first
outing of the season, a 3-1 loss at San Diego last Sunday. However,
he’ll face a much bigger challenge in the Dodgers, who have the best
record in the major leagues at 22-11.
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, ROOT Sports (Colorado), Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies RH Alex White (0-1, 2.84 ERA) vs. Dodgers LH Ted Lilly (4-0, 1.41)
White
allowed two runs, six hits, walked two and struck out five in 6 1/3
innings against the Padres. With question marks littering the Rockies’
rotation, White could stick with the big club should he continue to
perform. White was acquired from Cleveland in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade
along with Drew Pomeranz, who was sent down to Triple-A Colorado Springs
to work on his mechanics.
Lilly allowed one run and four hits in
six innings in the Dodgers’ 9-1 victory over San Francisco on Monday in
his last outing. He has allowed five earned runs in his five starts and
has a batting average against of 1.56 with a 0.88 WHIP. The Rockies’
roster is hitting .224 against Lilly, with Troy Tulowitzki 4-for-29 and
Dexter Fowler 3-for-22.
WALK-OFFS
1. Tulowitzki is 5-for-28 (.179) with runners in scoring position after hitting .309 in those situations the past two seasons.
2.
Los Angeles’ Kenley Jansen, who has taken over the closer’s role from
Javy Guerra, has three saves in four chances and has struck out 30 in 18
2/3 innings.
3. The Dodgers’ Matt Kemp hasn’t homered in 10 games since hitting 12 in his first 23 games.