Thursday night features a rubber match between NL West rivals as the Los Angeles Dodgers (44-35) take on the Colorado Rockies (32-50). The Rockies will host this one at Coors Field, with first pitch scheduled for 8:40 pm ET.
The Rockies bounced back from their Tuesday night loss with a 9-8 win on Wednesday. In the victory, shortstop Ezequiel Tovar had a nice night as he went two for four with three runs batted in and two runs scored. Mookie Betts hit a three-run home run in the loss.
The Dodgers are the heavy favorites in the finale despite playing on the road. They are -210 to win, while the Rockies’ moneyline sits at +176. The runline features Colorado +1.5 (+122), and the over/under for total runs is 12.5 (-110).
Dodgers Look To Move Above .500 On The Road
At 44-35, the Dodgers currently sit in third in the NL West, three games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks. While Los Angeles has been dominant at home (24-15), they have been just average on the road (20-20). On Thursday, they will look to take the series and move above .500 away from Dodger Stadium.
On the bump for Dave Roberts’ team will be 23-year-old righty Emmet Sheehan. In two starts this year, he is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA, 0.58 WHIP, and he has seven strikeouts in 12 innings. In his last start, a win over Houston, he allowed just two earned runs over six innings.
Offensively, the Dodgers are still dominant. They currently rank fourth in the majors in scoring, averaging 5.31 runs per game.
Leading the offense is Mookie Betts. In 298 at bats, he is hitting .255/.355/.513 with a team-leading 20 home runs, 50 runs batted in, and he ranks second in runs scored with 58.
Rockies Fighting To Get Out Of The Cellar
At approximately the halfway point of the season, it looks like it will be another lost year for the Rockies. They currently sit with the worst record in the National League at 32-50, 16.5 games out of first in the division. Trying to improve on their 19-21 home record, the Rockies would love to pull off the upset over their divisional rival.
Colorado will send 35-year-old veteran Chase Anderson to the mound for this one. In 10 games, he is 0-2 with a 5.79 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, and he has 28 strikeouts in 42 innings. In his last two starts, he has given up a whopping 16 earned runs in just 5.2 innings of work.
The Rockies currently rank 18th in scoring, averaging 4.31 runs per game (4.92 at home). Ryan McMahon has had a strong start for Colorado, hitting .263/.346/.478 with a team-leading 12 home runs and 44 runs scored. He has also driven in the second-most runs with 41.
Take The Dodgers To Win And Cover The Runline
Looking at the trends, the Rockies are 5-2 in their last seven games overall and 4-1 in their last five against the Rockies. In their last six games against National League opponents, though, they are just 1-5.
For the Rockies, they are 3-10 in their last 13 games and 2-17 in their last 19 against National League teams. The UNDER has hit in four of their last six games.
While the Rockies were able to steal the second game of this series, don’t expect the same to happen in the finale. Chase Anderson has been really bad in his last few starts and now gets to face one of the best lineups in baseball.
Take the Dodgers to win, and don’t be surprised if they cover the -1.5 on the runline (-146).
