Dodgers finish June at Coors Field

The Dodgers end June with a four-game series against the Rockies at Coors Field. The Dodgers have lost four of their last five games on the road. Their road record is 21-18, which is a respectable but perhaps not as good as you might think for the team with the best record in baseball.

One reason for this could be the Dodgers home/road splits this season. Currently the Dodgers have a 2.63 ERA at home, which is the lowest team ERA at Dodger Stadium since 1989. After Wednesday’s game, their road ERA is 3.99.

Offensively, the Dodgers average 4.69 runs per game on the road. At home, they score nearly a run more at 5.62 runs per games. And their batting average at home is .283 vs their .244 batting average on the road.

Now the Dodgers do get to bat at Coors which has been like home this season, in their three-game sweep back in April, the Dodgers scored 29 runs and as a team they hit .350/.438/.660.

The Dodgers have won 11 straight games against the Rockies going back to September 2018. That is the longest winning streak they have had against the Rockies in their history.

Going back to the beginning of the 2018 season, the Dodgers are 19-7 against the Rockies.

Since last Sunday, the Rockies took two of three against the Giants and they picked up a game on the Dodgers. They now trail by 12 games entering this series.

Game one: Walker Buehler (8-1, 2.96 ERA) vs. Peter Lambert (2-0, 5.85 ERA)

Thursday, June 27 - 5:40 p.m. PDT

Eric Stephen put it best when he said that last Friday, Walker Buehler had his Walker Buehler Game. Buehler has had an incredible June, in four starts, he has pitched 31 innings with an ERA of 0.87. He has struck out 42 while walking just one for a ridiculous 42.00 strikeout to walk ratio.

Peter Lambert will making his fifth career start and all of them have taken place this month. In his last start against the Dodgers, Lambert gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings.

Game two: Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-1, 1.27 ERA) vs. Antonio Senzatela (6-5, 4.91 ERA)

Friday, June 28 - 5:40 p.m. PDT

Ryu pitched 45⅔ innings in May with a 0.59 ERA. This month, his ERA is 0.69 in 26 innings. He has pitched well on the road this season. In 41⅓ innings, Ryu has a 1.74 ERA on the road this season.

Ryu is on track for one more start next week and then a likely spot to start against the American League on July 9th at the 2019 All-Star Game.

Antonio Senzatela pitched well against the Dodgers on Sunday. He gave up two runs in 6⅓ innings while striking out five. Senzatela has had a mix of good and bad starts at Coors Field this season.

Just this month, Senzatela has had one good start against Toronto where he gave up a run in six innings. Then on June 12th against the Cubs, he gave up eight runs (six earned) and eight hits in four innings pitched. Overall, he has a 2-3 record at home with a 6.91 ERA.

Game three: Clayton Kershaw (7-1, 3.07) vs. Jon Gray (8-5, 3.92 ERA)

Saturday, June 29 - 5:15 p.m. PDT

In 21 career starts at Coors Fields, Clayton Kershaw has a 4.57 ERA in 126 innings pitched. That is the highest ERA Kershaw has at any active major league ballpark. This will be Kershaw’s first start against the Rockies this season.

The third overall draft pick in 2013, Jon Gray, has made 16 starts this season and he has a 3.92 ERA in 96⅓ innings pitched. Gray has made one start against the Dodgers this season, he pitched six innings and gave up five runs and eight hits in a loss to the Dodgers.

In his career, Gray has 12 starts against the Dodgers, he is 3-5 with a 4.98 ERA. He has fared a little better at Coors Field in those starts going 2-1 in seven starts with a 4.14 ERA.

Some of the better Dodgers versus gray include Cody Bellinger, who is 8-for-11 with three doubles and a triple. Max Muncy is 3-for-6 with a double and two home runs. And Justin Turner is 8-for-22 with a .981 OPS.

Game four: Kenta Maeda (7-4, 3.76 ERA) vs. Chi Chi Gonzalez (0-1, 5.40 ERA)

Sunday, June 30 - 12:10 p.m. PDT

Kenta Maeda will start the series finale against the Rockies. Although he has generally not pitched as well on the road as he has at Dodger Stadium, Maeda has done well at Coors Field.

In his nine appearances at Coors Field, which include six starts, Maeda is 5-1 with a 3.00 ERA. Overall in 2019, Maeda has made two prior starts against the Rockies, he is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings pitched.

Chi Chi Gonzalez was initially drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round as the 23rd overall pick in 2013. He made the top 100 prospects list for both Baseball America (No. 89) and MLB.com (No. 97) prior to the 2015 season. Baseball Prospectus had Gonzalez ranked as high as 29th before the 2015 season.

He made his major league debut against the Boston Red Sox on May 30, 2015. He pitched parts of the 2015 and 2016 seasons with the Rangers.

Gonzalez had Tommy John surgery in 2017 and he did pitch in two minor league games in the Rangers organization in 2018. He became a free agent last November and then he signed a minor league contract with Rockies.

After pitching in AAA for the Albuquerque Isotopes, Chi Chi Gonzalez will be making his second start for the Rockies on Sunday.