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Rockies' Tanner Gordon Can Make Cubs Series Finale Must-Watch Game

The Colorado Rockies could have a great game in the final game of this series, if Tanner Gordon continues to perform has he has from late.

Maddy Dickens

Sep 5, 2018; Denver, CO, USA; A detail view of a Colorado Rockies hat on top of a glove in the seventh inning against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field
Sep 5, 2018; Denver, CO, USA; A detail view of a Colorado Rockies hat on top of a glove in the seventh inning against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
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The Colorado Rockies have their work cut out for them in their current series with the Chicago Cubs. Even though they are outmatched overall, Sunday's game could be quite the battle, depending on which version of Tanner Gordon shows up.

The probable match up the game is Gordon against Cubs veteran Matthew Boyd. Named an All-Star for the first time earlier this season, Boyd has emerged as a key part of Chicago's rotation and Gordon will have his work cut out for him if he wants to walk away with a win.

For most of the year the 27-year-old Gordon has struggled like every other Colorado starting pitcher. However, in his last three starts he has turned it around. Gordon is going to have to keep that up if he wants to take on Boyd head-to-head and help the Rockies win another game in an effort to avoid Major League history.

Gordon vs. Boyd Recently

Gordon getting ready to throw a baseball in a solid grey uniform with black lettering and a black ga
Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

This season has been less than ideal for the pitching staff for Colorado, and it's no different for Gordon. The right-hander is 5-5 with a 6.44 ERA. But, when one focuses on his last three starts against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Houston Astros, one sees improvement. He came out the winner in all three games.

More impressively, Gordon went toe to toe with both the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani and the Astors' Hunter Brown, the latter of which is an American League Cy Young candidate. Between those two games he pitched 12 innings, struck out eight and only allowed two earned runs. He hasn't had a comparable stretch this season, and this is what the Rockies need to continue seeing from him.

Boyd is 1-2 in his last three starts, as he faced the San Francisco Giants, Milwaukee Brewers, and Toronto Blue Jays. His lone win came against the Brewers, baseball's best team by record. Between his last three games he has pitched just over 17 innings, with 16 strikeouts, but he's allowed 11 earned runs. it's a blip in a season which he is 12-7 with a 2.82 ERA and 137 strikeouts.

The Rockies are still fighting to stay on the right side of history. Every win counts as the clock is winding down on the regular season and if Gordon keeps doing what he has been they will have no trouble avoiding the worst record in baseball history, a record set by the Chicago White Sox last season.

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Maddy Dickens
MADDY DICKENS

Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.

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