One pitch away from victory and the Rockies ended up losing by six runs last night. It goes to show just how quick things can change. The great thing about baseball is that there is always a tomorrow. And today is that tomorrow as the Colorado Rockies face the St. Louis Cardinals in game three of this four-game holiday series.
Wade LeBlanc (0-1, 5.60 ERA) will make his second start in a Cardinals uniform after being outrighted by the Baltimore Orioles in April. LeBlanc was signed by the Cardinals on June 17th and made three relief appearances before starting on June 28th. He has yet to find his rhythm in St. Louis and the Colorado offense will look to take advantage of LeBlanc as he looks to establish himself. In his career, LeBlanc has made 11 appearances against Colorado and sports a 3-4 record to go along with his 6.62 ERA in those outings.
For the Rockies, Kyle Freeland takes the hill coming off of his best outing of the year, earning the victory on Monday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing no runs on three hits in five innings of work. In his last two outings, Freeland has looked to regain a bit of his old form. I don't think it's a coincidence that those two starts followed this outstanding breakdown of how Freeland was tipping pitches by our own Mario DeGenz.
Freeland has certainly regained his confidence and swagger, which fuels so much of his game. When he’s being an athlete on the mound and not getting in his head, he can be dangerous and will look to keep up his strong performance tonight. Freeland’s battery mate, Elías Díaz, will look to provide some run support as he will be seeking his fifth straight game with a home run.
Start Time: 7:10 p.m. MDT
TV: AT&T SportsNet, MLB.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
Lineups:
Last night was grand! What will tonight be? pic.twitter.com/gUy4uhLrYH
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 3, 2021
#Rockies lineup vs. #Cardinals pic.twitter.com/fyJHGp8OBS
— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) July 3, 2021