Friday night's 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers was too close for comfort for the Colorado Rockies. They entered the top of the ninth inning with a 6-0 lead and saw Matt Belisle and Huston Street, but mostly the former, teeter on the edge of collapse. Making everyone sweat, Street was able to get Trent Oeltjen to strike out looking to end the game.
Jason Hammel takes the mound against the Dodgers on Saturday night in hopes to right the wrong he performed in Los Angeles on Memorial Day. He gave up seven runs on 10 hits in 4.2 innings. That was also the game where the Rockies had one run on 14 hits, so nothing was going right for the team then. He did bounce back with seven innings of two-hit, one-run ball against the Giants on June 5, but the offense scored one run in the 2-1 loss.
Ted Lilly also kept the Rockies down during their series in Los Angeles last week. Lilly started the second game and struck out eight in seven innings. He allowed two runs on four hits to pick up his fourth win. He lost his next start, which came against the Phillies, but that was a 3-1 loss. Lack of run support, just as it was for Hammel, was Lilly's undoing.
Matt Kemp entered Friday's contest as a pinch-hitter in the top of the ninth and his home run (the longest by a Dodgers batter this season) started the Dodgers' ultimately failed comeback attempt. Will he be able to have more of an impact in this game?
First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. MT. Watch ROOT Sports for live action then.
For more on the Rockies, Purple Row is your destination. For the Dodgers, visit True Blue LA and SB Nation Los Angeles.