LOS ANGELES – Teams that look to carry over the offensive production from their final regular-season contests clash when the Colorado Rockies visit the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday afternoon for a one-game playoff to decide the National League West title.
TV: 4:09 p.m. ET, ESPN
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The Dodgers swept three from San Francisco over the weekend while scoring 28 runs, including 15 on Sunday, and Colorado won nine of its last 10 contests after a 12-0 rout of Washington in Sunday’s finale.
The winner advances to host the NL East champion Atlanta Braves in the opener of the best-of-five Division Series on Thursday and the loser settles for playing in the Wild Card Game on Tuesday at the Milwaukee Brewers or the Chicago Cubs.
“Obviously it’s not do or die,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts told reporters, “but obviously it’s a must-win game. To win the game and to get a couple days off, and to host a division series, is very important.”
Two young hard-throwing right-handed pitchers will take the mound Monday when Los Angeles hands the ball to Walker Buehler and the Rockies counter with German Marquez, who has two wins and a no-decision in three starts against the Dodgers this season.
Colorado’s Nolan Arenado went deep twice Sunday, giving him an NL-most 37, and Manny Machado takes a nine-game hitting streak (12-for-36) into the contest for Los Angeles, which has won 12 of 19 games in the season series.
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies RH German Marquez (14-10, 3.76 ERA) vs. Dodgers RH Walker Buehler (7-5, 2.76)
Marquez won his last two starts, including Wednesday when he permitted three hits and one walk over seven scoreless innings against Philadelphia. The 23-year-old Venezuelan has registered 11 or more strikeouts in five of his last six outings and boasts 221 over 191 1/3 frames this season.
Joc Pederson is 3-for-10 with two homers versus Marquez, who is 2-0 with a 3.19 ERA in five career starts against the Dodgers.
Buehler recorded four quality starts in five opportunities during September, but managed only a 1-1 record in that stretch despite a sparkling 1.95 ERA. The 24-year-old Kentucky native, who owns 148 strikeouts over 130 2/3 innings, held Arizona to two runs over six innings in his last start and has lost only once since Aug. 1 -- at Colorado on Sept. 8. Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez are each 3-for-10 against Buehler, who is 0-1 with a 2.61 ERA in five starts versus Colorado in 2018.
WALK-OFFS
1. Los Angeles has won at least 90 games for the sixth straight season, matching the streak of the Brooklyn Dodgers (1951-56) for the franchise record.
2. Colorado CF Charlie Blackmon hit for the cycle Sunday, going 4-for-5 with three RBIs, and has a team-high five homers against the Dodgers this season. Arenado has gone deep four times versus Los Angeles in 2018.
3. Los Angeles OF Yasiel Puig is 21-for-48 with five homers versus the Rockies this year.
PREDICTION: Dodgers 5, Rockies 4