Colorado Rockies game no. 13 thread: Austin Gomber vs. Julio Urías

Last Thursday, the Rockies carried a two-game winning streak into their flight to the West Coast. Their momentum has been decimated in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and the club will look to avoid an 0-6 road trip in tonight’s series finale at Dodger Stadium.

Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon are not in Colorado’s starting lineup, and the Dodgers (10-2) will look to further cement the best record in baseball.

Left-hander Austin Gomber is on the mound for the Rockies this evening. He last pitched on Friday in San Francisco, taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning and dueling against Johnny Cueto in an eventual 1-3 ballgame. Gomber allowed two earned runs in 6 ¹⁄₃ innings, throwing 104 pitches (66 strikes). In his two starts on the year, he has thrown more sliders than curveballs. It will be interesting to see if he favors his curve tonight at sea level—especially after the nasty action it saw at Oracle Park.

The Rockies haven’t had a starter work past the fourth inning in the past two days, so it could be in the Dodgers’ game plan to work the pitch count early and get to a depleted bullpen. Colorado has used nine pitchers in the Los Angeles series thus far, and Gomber is currently tied for the second-most walks in baseball. The Dodgers currently have the second-highest walk percentage this year.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will call upon six-year veteran Julio Urías in his third start of the season. The 24-year-old (!) lefty opened 2021 with a seven-inning, one-run performance at Coors Field and has walked just one hitter in his 12 ²⁄₃ innings of work this year. Urías uses a four-seamer, curveball and changeup mix; his curve has above-average lateral movement and his change is used pretty much exclusively to righties. He has shown a slider in the past but it may have been cut out of his arsenal; it has gone from 17.4 percent use in 2019 to just 0.6 percent this year.

With Blackmon and Story having the day off, Bud Black has penciled Yonathan Daza and Alan Trejo in the starting lineup. Daza will play right field, while Trejo — a California native — will play shortstop in his first career start.

Bigger than baseball

Every MLB player will wear the number 42 today in celebration of Jackie Robinson Day, and the Rockies will celebrate the occasion this year with Robinson’s team. MLB has held yearly celebrations for the occasion since 2004, and the 2021 rendition will again feature uniform and hat patches with a commemorative ‘42’ logo. They are available for purchase on MLBShop.com, and proceeds from each sale will be donated to the Jackie Robinson Foundation.

For more details on the 2021 festivities: Here’s what MLB is doing for Jackie Robinson Day in 2021 | Yahoo! Sports

Start Time: 8:10 p.m. MDT

TV: AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, MLB.TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

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