The start of the 2019 season has gone about as good as possible so far for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and they look to continue that on Sunday evening as they go for the three-game sweep over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
All of the talk has been about the Dodgers offense, and rightfully so as they have hit at least one home run in all nine of their games, which is a franchise record. They are also averaging 8.0 runs per game, which is unsustainable but still a pleasant sight to see early in the season.
Cody Bellinger is leading the way offensively for the Dodgers, batting .425/.452/.950 while leading the Majors in both home runs (six) and RBI (17).
Making his second start of the season is left-hander Julio Urias. He is looking to build off his stellar season debut when he tossed five shutout innings, allowing just three hits while striking out seven in his first Major League start in almost two years.
Urias is only expected to make one more start after this one before moving to the bullpen with Clayton Kershaw expected to be due back after one more rehab start.
Opposing Urias for the Rockies is right-hander Chad Bettis, who is looking to bounce back after a rough first outing. Betting gave up seven hits and six earned runs in 5.2 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays, striking out five and walking two.
The Dodgers have hit Bettis well in the past as he is 2-2 with a 4.85 ERA and 1.49 WHIP in 16 career games (11 starts) against them.
Max Muncy has taken Bettis deep twice in seven career at-bats, but he is getting the day off with David Freese taking over at first base. Freese is 4-for-10 with a home run against Bettis while Justin Turner has also worn him out by going 10-for-25 (.400 batting average) with four doubles.
The Dodgers enter play Sunday with the best run differential in the big leagues at +30, while the Rockies are on the opposite end of the spectrum at -17, which ranks 29th out of 30 teams.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Joc Pederson
3B: Justin Turner
SS: Corey Seager
CF: A.J. Pollock
RF: Cody Bellinger
1B: David Freese
2B: Kiké Hernandez
C: Austin Barnes
P: Julio Urias
Rockies lineup:
RF: Charlie Blackmon
SS: Trevor Story
3B: Nolan Arenado
LF: David Dahl
1B: Mark Reynolds
CF: Ian Desmond
C: Chris Iannetta
2B: Garrett Hampson
P: Chad Bettis
