Dodgers-Rockies Preview

DENVER -- The Colorado Rockies took the field, and left-hander Tyler Anderson was throwing warm-up pitches in heavy rain Tuesday night before the umpires called for the tarp.

Two hours, 32 minutes after the scheduled first pitch, the game between the Rockies and the Los Angeles Dodgers was officially rained out.

The teams will play a day-night doubleheader Wednesday. The regularly scheduled game is set for 1:10 p.m. MDT, followed by the makeup game at 6:10 p.m. MDT.

Anderson will start the first game Wednesday and be opposed by right-hander Ross Stripling, who was scheduled to start Wednesday for the Dodgers.

In the second game, right-hander Jeff Hoffman, who was scheduled to start Wednesday for the Rockies, will oppose Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill, who was in line to pitch Tuesday.

Both teams can add a 26th player to the roster for the second game.

"It just kept building and building," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said of the storm. "The weather's unpredictable around here. We thought it was going to be a little fly-by at first -- 20- to 30-minute delay. And it just never went away."

Anderson (4-5, 3.69 ERA) rode a bike and played catch intermittently during the delay. Once the break reached two hours, Weiss said Anderson was not going to take the mound if play had started.

The manager said Anderson will have no restrictions in his start Wednesday and likened his warming up in the bullpen and then on the mound before the delay as similar to a side session.

One of Anderson's 14 major league starts came against the Dodgers. He picked up a win Aug. 3 by throwing seven innings of two-run ball during a 12-2 decision at Coors Field.

Hoffman will make his third major league start and his third against a division leader after facing the Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals.

"I couldn't ask for it any better," said Hoffman, who is 0-2 with a 8.10 ERA. "I think it lined up perfect for me. It's a great challenge."

In a 9-2 loss against the Cubs at Coors Field on Aug. 20, Hoffman gave up just two hard-hit balls in a pitching line that was deceptively bad -- four innings, seven hits, seven runs, one walk and two strikeouts.

At Washington on Sunday, Hoffman allowed six hits, including two solo homers, and four runs, three earned, in six innings. He walked four and struck out three in Colorado's 8-5 loss.

"The pitches that I've gotten hurt on have been big misses, and that's not something that I've done a lot in my career," Hoffman said. "I think I pride myself on missing my spots small. I learned when I was young -- aim small, miss small.

"But I've been running balls back over the plate. Big league hitters know what to do with balls when you make mistakes. So I think the key is to miss a little bit smaller. When I miss smaller with those pitches, then you keep the ball in the yard. And that's the key, especially pitching here."

His Wednesday night opponent is coming off an impressive debut for his new team. Hill (10-3, 2.09 ERA overall) fired six shutout innings Aug. 24 in a 1-0 win over the San Francisco Giants. The veteran left-hander, who was acquired by the Dodgers from the Oakland Athletics along with Josh Reddick on Aug. 1, was out for a month due to blisters on his left middle finger.

Stripling (3-5, 4.13 ERA) will oppose the Rockies for the first time in his rookie season.

The Rockies will enter the doubleheader with a three-game winning streak and a 11-15 record this month. The Dodgers have won six of their past nine games and are 14-12 this month.

The first-place Dodgers, who entered Tuesday with a 1 1/2-game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the National League West, have allowed just 29 unearned runs and made only 58 errors -- league-best totals in both categories.

"I think the reason we don't beat ourselves is something we talked about from day one in spring training is focusing for three hours," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "In the course of a 162-game season, there's going to be lapses and physical errors. But our guys do a very good job of playing every pitch. And as easy as that sounds, that's very difficult to do over the course of six months."