Los Angeles @ Colorado preview
Coors Field
Last Meeting ( May 9, 2010 ) Colorado 0, LA Dodgers 2
The Colorado Rockies are playing their best baseball of the season and the Los Angeles Dodgers have been terrific throughout the month of May.
Sounds like a good time for the two National League West rivals to meet.
The Dodgers and Rockies open a three-game series tonight in Denver with both teams still looking up at the first-place San Diego Padres.
Los Angeles (26-21) is two games behind San Diego and Colorado (25-22) is three back after winning five consecutive games.
The Rockies are fresh off sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-game series in which they hit nine home runs.
Colorado had four homers on Thursday and three of them were back-to-back-to-back shots by Seth Smith, Carlos Gonzalez and Ryan Spilborghs. The other homer came courtesy of Troy Tulowitzki.
The Dodgers are 17-7 during May despite losing three of their last four games. Los Angeles won two of three from the Rockies three weekends ago, even handing the sensational Ubaldo Jimenez (9-1, 0.88 ERA) his lone defeat of the season.
Jimenez gave up just one run and two hits but the Dodgers scratched out the win and that afternoon’s victory started a stretch in which Los Angeles won nine consecutive games and 12 of 13 to overcome a slow start to the season.
Last season, the Dodgers went 14-4 against the Rockies, including a 7-2 mark at Coors Field.
Colorado will send left-hander Jeff Francis to the mound for the opener. He’s had two stellar outings since returning from the disabled list.
Francis has allowed just one run in 13 1/3 innings in a no-decision against Washington and a victory over Kansas City. The win against the Royals was his first in nearly 21 months. Francis missed last season after shoulder surgery.
Francis is 5-3 with a 2.73 ERA in 14 career starts against the Dodgers.
Carlos Monasterios is making his second start of the season for Los Angeles. He pitched just four innings in his first start, allowing only one run and three hits against Pittsburgh.
Monasterios (1-0, 1.90 ERA) hasn’t pitched since hurling three shutout innings of relief against San Diego on May 19.
The Dodgers on Thursday received good news about the upcoming status of star right fielder Andre Ethier, who has been sidelined since breaking a pinkie during batting practice on May 15.
Ethier has recovered enough to start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Albuquerque and should return to the Dodgers early next week.
Ethier was batting .392 with 11 homers and 38 RBIs when he suffered the injury.
He was one of the top players in baseball over the first six weeks of the campaign and the Dodgers certainly could use his bat. They have been shut out seven times already this season, including twice this week by the Chicago Cubs.