Rockies-Dodgers Preview
LOS ANGELES -- The Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers will have two similar, yet distinct, goals for their offenses when they play Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers, who earned a 5-0 victory over the Rockies on Friday night, hope to extend that success beyond one day. Though Los Angeles compiled a 16-12 record with 37 home runs last month, several Dodgers experienced a miserable June offensively.
Seven players hit less than .225 for the month, ranging from Adrian Gonzalez's .223 to Enrique Hernandez's .158. Among those seven are four other regulars: Chase Utley (.209), Trayce Thompson (.207), A.J. Ellis (.188) and Yasmani Grandal (.169).
"Throughout the lineup, we've got to have some more production," manager Dave Roberts recently told MLB.com.
Hurting Los Angeles' cause will be the absence of Joc Pederson, who went on the disabled list Friday after injuring his right shoulder by running into the outfield wall in Milwaukee's Miller Park on Tuesday night to catch a fly ball. Pederson's 13 homers rank second on the club.
However, Corey Seager remains healthy and productive. The shortstop -- who leads the Dodgers with 17 home runs, 40 RBIs, 95 hits, 20 doubles and a .590 slugging percentage -- will bring a 14-game hitting streak into Saturday night's contest
The Rockies, meanwhile, hope to return to the offensive success that marked their June. Colorado batted .275 as a team during the month while amassing 61 doubles, five triples, 39 home runs and 149 RBIs.
Carlos Gonzalez contributed a .364 average and 29 RBIs in June. Nolan Arenado and Mark Reynolds had 12-game and nine-game streaks, respectively, during the month.
As a result, Colorado went 13-14 during June, the first time the team won 13 games in a month in three years. Nevertheless, the Rockies enter Saturday night's game having lost three in succession and six of their last nine.
"We're playing decent baseball, but we're not playing good baseball," Gonzalez told the Denver Post. "Even though things are more positive than in the past, it's still not good enough. You can't be satisfied with being a close to .500 club."
The Rockies played three of their last four games without two important components, rookie shortstop Trevor Story and veteran second baseman DJ LeMahieu. Story has a bruised right finger that he aggravated Tuesday in a 14-9 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, while LeMahieu is battling a bruised left knee.
Story leads all major league rookies with 19 home runs and 50 RBIs. LeMahieu is with tied Gonzalez for fourth place among National League batters with a .326 average.
Colorado manager Walt Weiss said before Friday night's game that LeMahieu could have played after performing some pregame drills, but he opted to give his All-Star second baseman an extra day of rest.
Right-hander Chad Bettis (6-5, 5.84 ERA) will start for the Rockies against Dodgers left-hander Scott Kazmir (6-3, 4.67). Both pitchers will try to extend personal winning streaks at the others' expense.
Bettis, who has not lost since June 4, seeks his third consecutive victory, while Kazmir hopes to earn his fourth successive win. Despite not losing since May 9, Kazmir has itched beyond the sixth inning just once this season.
In six career games (three starts) against the Dodgers, Bettis has no decisions and a 4.58 ERA. He has not faced Los Angeles this year.
Kazmir is 1-0 with a 5.73 ERA in two all-time starts against the Rockies. He got a no-decision at Coors Field on April 22, when he allowed four runs in five innings.
