After a successful homestand in which the Los Angeles Dodgers took two out of three from both the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs, the Dodgers hold a two-game lead in the National League West entering play Monday.
Los Angeles now faces the Colorado Rockies, with Kenta Maeda taking the mound in the opener of the three-game series at Coors Field. Maeda is 13-7 with a 3.37 ERA, 3.68 FIP and 1.10 WHIP in 25 starts this season.
He was optioned to Rookie-level Arizona League Dodgers last week in order to clear an additional spot on the active roster. It was nothing more than a paper move, and Maeda is already eligible to be recalled since the AZL season ended Sunday.
Brock Stewart was optioned to Double-A Tulsa when Maeda was recalled. Stewart joined the Drillers as opposed to Triple-A Oklahoma City, to leave the Dodgers with the same flexibility in regards to eventually recalling Stewart.
Maeda last started on Aug. 23 when he gave up six hits and three runs in five innings against the Giants, earning a win. Maeda has succeeded when pitching on extra rest this season.
In 15 starts with five days of rest or more, he is 9-2 with a 3.11 ERA. The 28-year-old has also been good against the Rockies this season. In three starts when facing Colorado, Maeda is 2-1 with a 1.45 ERA and 0.75 WHIP. Both of the wins came at Coors Field.
Opposing Maeda is right-hander Jon Gray. The 24-year-old is 8-6 with a 4.61 ERA, 3.72 FIP and 1.24 WHIP on the season. In four career starts against Los Angeles he is 1-2 with a 4.35 ERA. He last faced them on Aug. 2, tossing five shutout innings, striking out six and earning a win.
Gray is 5-1 at Coors Field on the season despite a 5.11 ERA in 11 starts. He is coming off a good start against the Milwaukee Brewers in which he went six innings, giving up two runs and striking out 10.
Adrian Gonzalez is 4-for-10 with a home run off Gray in his career. Gonzalez has hit safely in 19 of his last 21 games, batting .371 with seven home runs, 24 RBIs an 17 runs in that span.
Rockies All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado is hot of late. He’s 16-for-29 (.552) with five home runs and 13 RBIs in his last seven games. He is tied for the NL lead with 35 home runs and leads the Majors with 111 RBIs.
Gerardo Parra gets the start at first base for Colorado. This is his fourth career game at first base. The Dodgers have won seven of the 12 meetings against the Rockies this season.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Chase Utley
LF: Howie Kendrick
SS: Corey Seager
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
C: Yasmani Grandal
RF: Josh Reddick
CF: Joc Pederson
3B: Rob Segedin
P: Kenta Maeda
Rockies lineup:
CF: Charlie Blackmon
2B: D.J. Lemahieu
RF: Carlos Gonzalez
3B: Nolan Arenado
LF: David Dahl
1B: Gerardo Parra
C: Nick Hundley
SS: Daniel Descalso
P: Jon Gray
