The Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals close out a three-game National League Series at Busch Stadium on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.
Colorado has garnered an even 3-3 mark in its first six games of current road trip and will close things out trying to break a streak of 16-straight losses on Sundays. The Rockies clubhouse was in a festive atmosphere after capturing a 6-1 win Saturday night. “I was surprised when I came into the clubhouse after the win and I heard all the music,” said Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. “Everybody was kind of basically making fun of it because we haven’t played music for a while.” Gonzalez has led the team offensively, hitting two home runs and compiling five RBIs. Colorado is 7-14 when playing teams with a winning record in the second half of the season.
Rockies starting pitcher Esmil Rogers is 6-1 with a 5.85 ERA in nine appearances (six starts) this season. The right-hander has compiled a victory in three consecutive outings, as the Colorado offense has supplied 19 runs of support. He has given up four runs and 16 hits over 16 2/3 innings over that span. Rogers is a perfect 5-0 with a 3.86 ERA in six road outings (four starts), surrendering just a single home run in 30 1/3 frames. He will be celebrating his 26th birthday tonight and making his third career appearance against the Cardinals, posting a 0-1 record and 6.00 ERA in the first two outings.
St. Louis can ill-afford to lose games at this point entering tonight five games back in the NL Central race behind the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cardinals entered last night’s contest with the best batting average against the Rockies of any NL team, batting .324 with two home runs and 23 RBI in four games. It didn’t carry over into last night’s 6-1 loss, scratching out just six hits. St. Louis is still 5-1 in the last six meetings at Busch Stadium and 49-40 versus right-handed starters this year.
Cardinals starting pitcher Edwin Jackson is 8-8 with a 4.07 ERA in 22 starts this season and he’ll be making his fourth start with his new club. He was traded from the White Sox to Toronto to St. Louis on July 27. The right-hander is 13-5 with a 3.15 ERA in 25 career starts in August. Jackson’s .722 winning percentage in the month is seventh-best among active pitchers. In five career starts versus the Rockies, he is 0-2 with a 17.28 ERA, as he’s allowed them to hit for an astronomical .432 batting average.
At the time of this writing, the St. Louis Cardinals are listed as -158 home favorites and the total stands at 8.5 Over (-120).