The five Los Angeles Dodgers who represented the club at the 2021 MLB All-Star Game in Denver did not need to book a flight back home. Instead, their teammates flew out to them to commence the unofficial second half of the season against the Colorado Rockies.
The first half was a bit of a rough ride for the Dodgers, as injuries hindered the team from gaining serious momentum and securing the National League West lead. Still, despite their injuries, the Dodgers remain in second place in the ever-so-competitive division and find themselves only two games behind the San Francisco Giants.
Staying healthy will be the name of the game for the Dodgers if they are to embark on the journey of capturing their ninth straight division title. The team is acutely aware of this, too, as players like Max Muncy and Mookie Betts have sacrificed prestigious league-wide recognition in order to let their bodies fully recover from injury.
As the weather heats up in the summer months, so will the NL West race, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sees the urgency in catching fire.
“We held serve and now it’s our service,” Roberts said. “We’ve got to take advantage of it. I think this is when the really good teams start to ascend, and I’ve think we’ve got a really good club.”
Julio Urias leads the charge for the Dodgers as the club returns to action against the Rockies. The first pitcher in all of baseball to reach 11 wins on the season, Urias is amidst what is shaping up to be a career year.
Through 18 starts, Urias’ 11 wins already surpass his previous carer-best of five. Moreover, his 119 strikeouts also mark a new single-season career high.
The Rockies were slated to start Antonio Senzatela, but he along with Yency Almonte, Jhoulys Chacín and Yonathan Daza have been placed on the COVID injured list. Rockies manager Bud Black and first base coach Ron Gideon also are unavailable due to contact tracing protocols.
With Senzatela unavailable, the Rockies are starting Chi Chi Gonzalez.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said himself and other representatives from the team who were at the All-Star Game went through two rounds of testing that have come back negative.
Dodgers lineup
RF: Mookie Betts
1B: Max Muncy
3B: Justin Turner
C: Will Smith
CF: Cody Bellinger
2B: Chris Taylor
LF: AJ Pollock
SS: Gavin Lux
P: Julio Urias
Rockies lineup
CF: Garrett Hampson
2B: Brendon Rodgers
SS: Trevor Story
RF: Charlie Blackmon
1B: C.J. Cron
3B: Ryan McMahon
C: Elias Diaz
LF: Chris Owings
P: Chi Chi Gonzalez
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