The Los Angeles Dodgers are in a tough battle with the San Diego Padres for first place in the National League West, so a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies could be a big boost for the reigning World Series champions.
The Dodgers will look to defeat the Rockies for the 11th straight time on Monday night when they send right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (10-8, 2.84 ERA) to the mound in Denver against left-hander Kyle Freeland (3-12, 5.18).
Yamamoto will make his fifth career start against a team he has dominated. Most recently, he allowed just one hit over five scoreless innings in an 8-1 victory over Colorado on June 25. Yamamoto is 3-0 with a 3.32 ERA in his career vs. the Rockies, including 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in two starts at Coors Field.
Los Angeles wrapped up a three-game series sweep of the Padres with a 5-4 win on Sunday to take a two-game lead over them atop the division. The Dodgers are just 8-7 in August and have not won more than three in a row since mid-June.
A lack of production by Mookie Betts continues to be an issue for the Dodgers. The 2018 American League MVP is batting a career-low .242 but has contributed in other ways, including a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning on Sunday.
“It really has taken me just to try to … do whatever you can to win today,” Betts said recently. “You may be 0-for-4, but maybe you had a sac fly for an RBI; that helps. Maybe you made a nice play on defense. Since I’ve changed my mindset to that, it really has helped me get through every single day.”
Colorado has won three straight games and five of its last six, a streak that began with Freeland’s start at St. Louis on Tuesday. The left-hander rebounded from two subpar outings that were impacted by an illness to pitch 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball, his longest outing since July 9, 2017.
In the two starts before Tuesday’s game, Freeland gave up a combined eight runs in 7 2/3 innings.
“It definitely feels good to be healthy and 100 percent going out there,” he told reporters after the 3-0 win over the Cardinals. “Especially after those two rough ones, where my health wasn’t that great.”
Freeland had two strikeouts on Tuesday to boost his career total to 900, which ranks third on the franchise list behind German Marquez (1,059) and Jorge De La Rosa (985).
“Climbing up those rankings of leaderboards within the Rockies’ organization is really cool,” Freeland, 32, said. “You know, it shows that we’ve been here for quite some time and have had success.”
Freeland’s outing seemed to propel the Rockies’ rotation. Tanner Gordon pitched a solid game against Arizona on Friday, rookie Chase Dollander grinded out 4 2/3 innings on Saturday, and Antonio Senzatela returned from the injured list to toss five scoreless frames on Sunday.
Freeland is 5-11 with a 4.81 ERA in 24 career starts against the Dodgers.
–Field Level Media
