The Colorado Rockies finished game 162 of the 2018 regular season with an emphatic 12-0 victory over the Washington Nationals. The bats were hot as Charlie Blackmon hit for the cycle and Nolan Arenado hit two home runs. Tyler Anderson was amazing on the mound, pitching 7.2 innings of shutout baseball while giving up only four hits. Now, they face the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium for an all-important game 163. The winner will be National League West Division Champs and host the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS on Thursday, while the loser gets the wild card and will play the loser of the Chicago Cubs-Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card Game on Tuesday. An exciting final day of the regular season, gets even more exciting as there will be two game 163’s, a first in MLB history.
Both the Dodgers and Rockies head to game 163 hot. The Dodgers swept the San Francisco Giants, and crushed them on Sunday 15-0. Brian Dozier, Max Muncy, and Austin Barnes hit home runs, while lefty Rich Hill went seven shutout innings and giving up only two hits. Los Angeles will have a rested bullpen for the game, and will start right-hander Walker Buehler. In five appearances against the Rockies this year, Buehler is 0-1 with 33 strikeouts and 11 earned runs. His last game against Colorado came on September 19, where he went six innings and struck out 12 batters. He gave up two runs, both unearned, and threw 101 pitches. To be successful, the Rockies will need to be aggressive at the plate as Buehler throws a lot of strikes.
To counter, the Rockies will send German Marquez to the mound. The young star was amazing in his last outing against the Philadelphia Phillies, striking out the first eight batters he faced, and setting Colorado’s single season record for strikeouts. He’s had three previous match-ups with the Dodgers this season, going 2-0 with 22 strikeouts and giving up six earned runs in 21 innings pitched. Marquez’s last game against the Dodgers came on June 30, where he went eight innings and gave up only one run. He struck out nine and walked none for the victory. Marquez has incredible numbers for the month of September. In five games he has 48 strikeouts and eight earned runs while going 33.2 innings. Like Buehler, Marquez attacks the strike zone and throws a lot of strikes.
On offense, expect the same lineup that Bud Black has trotted out for most of the last week. The only difference will be Tony Wolters, Marquez’s personal catcher, to bat eight instead of Chris Iannetta. Blackmon, LeMahieu, and the red-hot David Dahl will be at the top. Dahl has six home runs in his last seven games and 15 RBI’s. Arenado, Story, and Carlos Gonzalez are next. In game 162 against the Nationals, Arenado and Story padded their MVP-worthy credentials by hitting back-to-back home runs. Arenado has bounced back nicely from his September slump to hit safely in his last eight games. CarGo has had a nice bounce-back season after last year’s season to forget. He’s hit safely in his last six games and 16 home runs for the season. Rounding out the lineup will be Ian Desmond, who has also had a nice bounce-back season, Wolters, and Marquez, who for a pitcher is also a decent hitter in his own right. German is batting .300 in 64 plate appearances with a home run and five RBI’s. The offense will need to stay hot to win against the Dodgers.
Helping out the Rockies cause will be a rested bullpen and a bench that has produced recently. Relievers Adam Ottavino and Scott Oberg, and National League saves leader Wade Davis haven’t pitched since September 28, while Seunghwan Oh only threw five pitches against the Nationals on Sunday. Lefty Chris Rusin threw 14 pitches on Sunday and should also be available. On the bench, Gerardo Parra and veteran Matt Holliday will be called upon in later innings to provide offense. Parra is hitting .285 with 53 RBI’s while Holliday is hitting .288.
The last time Colorado played in a game 163, Holliday was the hero scoring the game winning run. Could he play hero again as the Rockies play another game 163?
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