After taking the opener in a back-and-forth affair at Coors Field, the Los Angeles Dodgers can wrap up a fourth victory in their past five series, plus further cut into the lead the Colorado Rockies have in the National League West standings.
As it stands, Colorado enters play a half-game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks for first place, and three games up on the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. The Rockies are a mere 5-5 since beginning a three-game set against the Dodgers on May 21.
One of those losses came to Walker Buehler, who starts for the Dodgers on Saturday. He enters 3-1 with a 2.20 ERA, 2.15 FIP and 0.90 WHIP, seemingly adding to his case for the NL Rookie of the Year Award with each passing start.
Buehler is coming off back-to-back starts in which he completed seven innings, with one coming against the Rockies. He allowed just two hits and one run (Gerardo Parra homer) while recording six strikeouts against zero walks.
Overall this season, Buehler has 48 strikeouts compared to nine walks across 41 innings pitched for the Dodgers. Considering the injuries that have mounted in the starting rotation, he’s likely to be leaned on even more heavily than it appeared in recent weeks.
The Rockies send German Márquez to mound, with the right-hander looking to win a third consecutive decision. The streak began against the Dodgers, when Márquez allowed just one run on two hits over seven innings.
Despite his recent run of success, Márquez is an underwhelming 4-5 with a 4.21 ERA, 4.06 FIP and 1.44 WHIP in 11 starts this season. He’s fared better at Coors Field than on the road, going 3-2 with a 2.06 ERA.
Yasiel Puig has swung a hot bat for the Dodgers since coming off the disabled list. In 20 games, he has slashed .328/.400/.690 with six home runs and 10 RBI.
Dodgers lineup:
SS: Chris Taylor
3B: Justin Turner
C: Yasmani Grandal
LF: Matt Kemp
1B: Cody Bellinger
CF: Joc Pederson
RF: Yasiel Puig
2B: Breyvic Valera
P: Walker Buehler
Rockies lineup:
2B: D.J. LeMahieu
CF: Charlie Blackmon
3B: Nolan Arenado
RF: Carlos Gonzalez
SS: Trevor Story
LF: Gerardo Parra
1B: Ian Desmond
C: Tony Wolters
P: German Marquez
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