The Rockies just swept the Padres at Coors Field, and will hope to do the same to the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks, who have themselves won six of their last seven contests.
Tyler Gilbert (1-1, 0.00 ERA) could not really have done a better job in his first major league start. Last week he became just the fourth pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his first MLB start, and will try to similarly hold down the Rockies. It’s probably a bit much to expect another result like that (repeating this feat would be wilder than CM Punk arriving in AEW), especially in his first time facing them. Colorado’s 41-21 record at home is one of the best in MLB, and the Diamondbacks are tied with Colorado and Texas for the majors’ worst road record at 14-45. Safe to say the 27-year-old Gilbert may have his work cut out for him on Friday.
Opposite him is Austin Gomber (9-7, 4.09 ERA). Gomber and his wife Rachel (Momber!) welcomed a baby boy into their family recently, and Gomber will try to show his son how it’s done on Friday. The left-hander has been pitching like an All-Star at altitude, posting a record of 5-1 with a 1.70 ERA. He’ll need to be a bit careful, as the Diamondbacks have a higher AVG, OBP, SLG, and OPS versus southpaws than versus righties. Gomber himself is coming off a tough start in San Francisco in which he gave up five runs in four innings. He’ll try to get back to his effective self against the Snakes on Friday.
Gilbert has not faced the Rockies before, and Gomber has only faced the Diamondbacks in one start, so the matchup data is sparse. Nick Ahmed is 1-for-3, Carson Kelly is 1-for-2, and Josh Rojas is 2-for-2. No other Arizona hitter owns a knock against Gomber.
For the Rockies, C.J. Cron will try to continue his scorching August output. In his last six games, Cron his hitting over .450 with three doubles, three home runs and eight RBI. Connor Joe has also been hot lately, hitting five home runs thus far this month.
First Pitch: 6:40pm MDT
TV: AT&T Sports Net Rocky Mountain; MLB.tv
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
Lineups:
Game 123. #RattleOn pic.twitter.com/1FxltkgQAt
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 20, 2021
#Rockies lineup today
— Danielle Allentuck (@d_allentuck) August 20, 2021
LF Connor Joe
2B Brendan Rodgers
SS Trevor Story
RF Charlie Blackmon
1B CJ Cron
3B Ryan McMahon
C Elias Díaz
CF Garrett Hampson
P Austin Gomber