Dodgers Vs. Rockies Game Preview: Zach McKinstry Makes Rare Start

The Los Angeles Dodgers avoided a sweep by the Washington Nationals with a win in the series finale and they now begin an eight-game road trip in the National League West, beginning with the Colorado Rockies in a four-game set.

Prior to dropping two of three to the Nationals, the Rockies were the last team to beat the Dodgers in a series, which happened June 27-29. After that, L.A. emerged victorious in six straight series.

However, dropping series to the Nationals and Rockies continued a trend of the Dodgers struggling against sub-.500 clubs. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is unsure why the Dodgers have not played well against their weaker opponents, but they can turn that around in this matchup at Coors Field.

Tyler Anderson takes the ball against his former team, and so far they are the only club to put a loss on his season stats. In his last outing against the Rockies, Anderson pitched six innings and gave up four runs on 10 hits, which is a strong outing in Coors Field, but the offense was shut down by Chad Kuhl, who pitched a three-hit shutout.

Anderson is also coming off back-to-back starts of going six innings with no runs and he has went at least six innings in his previous five outings. Overall on the season, Anderson has posted a 2.79 ERA and 3.27 FIP in 103.1 innings with 87 strikeouts, and the veteran southpaw was rewarded for his breakout season with his first career All-Star selection.

The Rockies counter with José Ureña, a veteran right-hander who has been having his own quality season, albeit in far fewer innings than Anderson.

Ureña owns a career ERA of 4.70 in more than 700 innings pitched, but this season he’s posted a 3.13 ERA in 31.2 innings. However, his 4.70 FIP, along with a strikeout rate (12.5%) that’s nearly the same as his walk rate (11%), does suggest that he is due for regression.

Ureña faced the Dodgers on July 6 and pitched 6.2 innings while giving up just one run on five hits, but in his last outing, which came against the Milwaukee Brewers, he gave up six runs (five earned) in five innings.

After getting back in the Dodgers’ lineup on Wednesday for the first time in nearly a week, Justin Turner is once again out of the lineup. Roberts said Turner will be out of the lineup for the Dodgers’ first two games in Colorado.

Zach McKinstry is in left field for a rare start.

Dodgers lineup

RF: Mookie Betts
SS: Trea Turner
1B: Freddie Freeman
C: Will Smith
DH: Jake Lamb
2B: Gavin Lux
3B: Max Muncy
CF: Cody Bellinger
LF: Zach McKinstry

Rockies lineup

1B: Connor Joe
SS: Jose Iglesias
LF: Kris Bryant
DH: C.J. Cron
2B: Brendan Rodgers
RF: Randal Grichuk
C: Elias Diaz
3B: Ryan McMahon
CF: Yonathan Daza