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Tyler Chatwood looks to continue his excellent audition for a permanent starting position as the Rockies host Erik Bedard and the Houston Astros tonight for the third game of our heated rivalry series. Houston is the natural rival of Colorado as we...uh have better cows than them and our football teams are fighting for dominance in the AFC, and our baseball teams fought for who could be the worst team last year, and...that is all I can come up with.
The Rockies come off of an emotionally draining road trip in which they lost two extra inning games that seemed like theirs for the taking. If you are still in 'wait until next year mode,' then these can be seen as great learning experiences for a young team and a first year manager. However, if you have put on the purple tinted glasses and think this team has a chance to win the NL West, these were dissapointing games the team needed to win. In that case, these next two games need to be dominated by a Rockies team that couldn't find their offense the last four games after averaging over five runs in the previous eight.
Five runs is a key number for the Rockies this year, they are 5-20 when scoring less than five runs and 23-4 when scoring five or more. Good offense and Chatwood not allowing walks (averaging 3.5 per game at home, 0.5 per game on the road) should lead to a Rockies victory against Erik Bedard. Erik had a good career...five years ago. Injuries and age have caught up to him and he has not done well in his last two seasons (5.68 ERA this year, 5.01 ERA last year for the Pirates). Colorado needs to get up early and put this team away because us fans have been on the edge or our seats too much in the last four games. Here are your lineups for tonight's game:
Houston Astros:
1. Brandon Barnes (R) CF
2. Jose Altuve (R) 2B
3. Jason Castro (L) C
4. J.D. Martinez (R) RF
5. Carlos Pena (L) 1B
6. Chris Carter (R) LF
7. Matt Dominguez (R) 3B
8. Ronny Cedeno (R) SS
9. Erik Bedard (L) P
1. Dexter Fowler (S) CF
2. Jordan Pacheco (R) 1B
3. Carlos Gonzalez (L) LF
4. Troy Tulowitzki (R) SS
5. Michael Cuddyer (R) RF
6. Wilin Rosario (R) C
7. Nolan Arenado (R) 3B
8. DJ LeMahieu (R) 2B
9. Tyler Chatwood (R) P
Go Rockies!!!