Colorado Rockies open 2015 season in Milwaukee against Brewers

The long, cold winter is over and Rockies baseball is back for a new season.

With an abundance of youth in their Opening Day rotation, the Rockies will turn to their only starter over the age of 25, 30-year-old Kyle Kendrick, on the mound today against the Brewers.

Kendrick spent all of his first eight seasons with the Phillies, compiling a 4.42 ERA in 226 games for Philadelphia, including a 4.61 ERA and 1.36 WHIP in 199 innings over 32 starts in 2014. Today will be Kendrick's sixth career start in Miller Park, where he is 2-2 with a 4.11 ERA in 30 2/3 innings.

Kendrick will face a strong Brewers lineup that features a pair of 2014 All-Stars at the top in center fielder Carlos Gomez and catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who will be followed by a pair of veteran power hitters, left fielder Ryan Braun and third baseman Aramis Ramirez. Milwaukee's lineup is rounded out by Adam Lind, Khris Davis, Scooter Gennett, Jean Segura and pitcher Kyle Lohse.

Lohse, Kendrick's former Phillies teammate, will be making his third career Opening Day start at age 36. He had a strong 2014 season for Milwaukee, with a 3.54 ERA and 1.15 WHIP to go with a 13-9 record. This will be Lohse's 14th career start against the Rockies, against whom he has a 6-3 record and 3.64 ERA.

Lohse also had a rather notorious appearance against Colorado in Game 2 of the 2007 National League Division Series where in relief of, of all people, Kendrick, he coughed up a grand slam to Kazuo Matsui.

The Rockies lineup Lohse will face will feature the return of Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki, who will be hitting second and third behind leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon. They will be followed by 2014 NL batting champion Justin Morneau, two-time Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado and Corey Dickerson, who led the Rockies with 24 home runs in 2014. Nick Hundley, DJ LeMahieu and Kendrick round out the Rockies' order.

First pitch is at 12:10 Mountain Time at Miller Park.