Los Angeles @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 16, 2014 ) LA Dodgers 4, Colorado 10

Los Angeles shortstop Hanley Ramirez has only been on the disabled list once this season, but the list of injuries the Dodgers shortstop has suffered would make a football player proud. Ramirez hopes to return to the starting lineup when Los Angeles visits the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday in the rubber match of their three-game series. Ramirez, who can count ailments to his left leg, left wrist, right shoulder, left hand (twice), left calf, right ring finger and right thumb in 2014, was not in the starting lineup in the Dodgers' 10-4 loss Tuesday because of a strained elbow and struck out as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning.

The Dodgers' lead over San Francisco in the National League West shrunk to three games as the best road team in the majors fell to 46-30 away from home. Colorado snapped a seven-game losing streak without third baseman Nolan Arenado, who underwent an an MRI to check the severity of a chest contusion only to learn he also has early-onset pneumonia. Colorado's Jorge De La Rosa hopes a return to Coors Field will snap him out of a four-turn winless streak and opposes rookie Carlos Frias, who makes his second major-league start while taking the spot of the injured Hyun-Jin Ryu in the rotation.

TV: 3:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, SportsNet LA (Los Angeles)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers RH Carlos Frias (0-0, 3.91 ERA) vs. Rockies LH Jorge De La Rosa (13-11, 4.28)

Frias permitted two runs and four hits in three innings of relief in Los Angeles' 9-0 loss in San Francisco on Friday. The 24-year-old Dominican native yielded three hits in six scoreless frames in the Dodgers' 8-5 setback to Washington on Sept. 3. Frias starts in place of Ryu (14-7, 3.38 ERA), who is suffering from shoulder inflammation after an MRI exam performed Monday ruled out any structural damage, and is expected to be shut down for four days.

De La Rosa, who allowed four runs (three earned) in six innings of a 5-1 loss at St. Louis on Friday for his third consecutive loss, is 9-2 with a 3.30 ERA in 14 starts this season at hitter-friendly Coors Field and an astonishing 44-14 lifetime in Denver. The 33-year-old Mexican is 4-10 with a 6.04 ERA against Los Angeles with Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp (combined .377 batting average, six homers, 23 RBIs and seven doubles in 77 at-bats) proving to be tough outs. De La Rosa earned a victory over the Dodgers in his last appearance against them after yielding two runs in six innings of an 8-7 victory July 5.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Dodgers on Tuesday recorded 16 hits - three by Justin Turner, who replaced Ramirez in the starting lineup.

2. Colorado (60-91) needs three victories in its last 11 games to avoid the first 100-loss season in club history.

3. Los Angeles fell 1 1/2 games behind Washington, which clinched the NL East on Tuesday, for the best record in the NL.

PREDICTION: Rockies 3, Dodgers 2