The baseball world keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop for the Colorado Rockies, but nearly one-third of the way through the season, they continue to to roll along. After a strong showing against the Cubs, Colorado heads into a series this week against the Pirates with the best record in the National League.
A playoff berth is definitely in play as the Rockies continue to hum along, and they would love to keep racking up the wins. Pittsburgh is in last place in the National League Central and seven games under .500, but sit only 4.5 games out of first as no one in the division is playing very well.
The Rockies are looking to hold off both the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks in the N.L. West, as the division has proven to be the strongest in baseball thus far.
This series will be contested from Monday, June 12 through Thursday, June 14, 2017 at PNC Park in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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Pitching Matchups
The Rockies will open the series by sending Kyle Freeland to the mound. He is 7-3 on the year with a sparkling 3.34 ERA. Freeland isn’t a big strikeout guy and has a poor strikeout-to-walk ratio, so a regression could be coming. The Pirates will counter with Jameson Taillon, who is 2-1 with a 3.31 ERA and is happy to be back on the hill.
In the second game of the series, Tyler Chatwood will start for the Rockies. He is 6-7 with a 4.37 ERA, and has only allowed one earned run in each of his past two starts. The Pirates are slated to start ace Gerrit Cole, who is 3-6 with a 4.83 ERA. Cole has been rocked in his past two starts, but despite the higher ERA, is the better pitcher.
In the final game on Wednesday, Colorado’s scheduled starter is German Marquez. He is 4-3 with a 4.44 ERA but gets pulled early if he starts showing issues. The Pirates are expected to send out Chad Kuhl, who is 1-5 with a 5.63 ERA. He has a poor WHIP and walks too many people, so while Kuhl has been solid in his past two starts, he could have trouble against a dynamic Rockies offense.
Injury Report
Taillon returns to the mound on Monday against the Rockies for the first time since undergoing surgery for testicular cancer five weeks ago. He’s one their strongest pitchers with an 3.31 ERA and 1.33 WHIP through 35.1 innings pitched.
Tallion had nine strikeouts and allowed five runs in his final rehab game with Triple A last week and ramped up to 97 miles per hour. His last appearance with the Pirates was against Cincinnati on May 3 when he allowed six runs off eight hits in a 7-2 loss.
The 25-year-old will get his seventh start of the year Monday, but it’s bound to be one of the more memorable ones after last month. He’ll be looking to deliver a win this time as he rejoins his team this week.
Road Warriors
The Rockies head into this series, the tailend of a seven-game road trip, with a record of 24-11 away from Coors Field. They have the second-best road record in the MLB behind the red-hot Houston Astros.
Colorado just beat the defending World Series Champion Cubs three times in a four-game at Wrigley Field over the weekend and will be looking to keep the wins coming at PNC Park before returning home on Thursday. The Rockies offense has been the motor this season and the pitching has held up surprisingly well, too.
Charlie Blackmon and Mark Reynolds have been leading the way at the plate. Blackmon leads the the team with a .337 averaging this season and Reynolds is tied for fifth in the league with 17 home runs this year. The Rockies keep defying the projections and will aim to do so again in this series.
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