The Los Angeles Dodgers will chase their fourth consecutive series victory on Saturday night when they face the visiting Colorado Rockies
The Dodgers also are chasing their seventh series win of the second half, but the current run of a season-high-tying six consecutive victories came after some struggles against a pair of playoff contenders
When the Dodgers lost consecutive series against the Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds to end July, they found their winning touch again to start August
The Dodgers‘ National League West lead dropped to 2 1/2 games when they were crushed 9-0 by the Reds on July 30. Since then, they have won 10 of their last 11 games, including six in a row, and are 7 1/2 games in front in the division
Plenty of the credit goes to the team’s new arrivals, such as Lance Lynn, who gave up one unearned run in five innings Friday in Los Angeles’ 6-1 victory over the Rockies and is 3-0 with his new club. Amed Rosario, Enrique Hernandez, Joe Kelly and Ryan Yarbrough have helped the Dodgers since arriving at the trade deadline
“We were talking before about the chemistry of the team that we’ve got, the approach we’ve got, we never give up, we fight every single at-bat,” Dodgers outfielder David Peralta said on the SportsNet LA broadcast. “We trust everyone. The pitching staff is doing a great job, the relievers and Lance is doing a great job.
Right-hander Tony Gonsolin (7-4, 4.42 ERA) will take the mound for Los Angeles on Saturday
Gonsolin is coming off a win at San Diego on Monday despite surrendering six runs on nine hits over six innings. He is 2-1 with a 2.67 ERA lifetime against the Rockies in seven appearances (six starts)
The Rockies will counter with right-hander Peter Lambert (2-3, 5.57), who will make his fifth start since returning to the club on July 21. Lambert had been in the minor leagues for three weeks while stretching out his pitch count in order to become a starter again
While Lambert did not give up an earned run over his first two starts since coming back to the Rockies, he has given up a combined nine runs over his last two outings, including five in 3 2/3 innings Monday in a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers
The Rockies have given the Dodgers a decent test over the first two contests of the current four-game series thanks to solid pitching and exceptional infield defense — especially from shortstop Ezequiel Tovar
“It doesn’t surprise me when we play good infield defense. We should. It’s our expectation,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “When we don’t, that bothers us. But our defense overall has been good since the early part of the year.
Colorado on Friday called up left-hander Justin Bruihl, who was designated for assignment by the Dodgers after they made their trade deadline acquisitions. Bruihl struggled, though, giving up four runs (three earned) in a third of an inning in his Rockies debut
Dodgers pitchers combined to strike out 16 Rockies batters in Friday’s game
–Field Level Medi
