After sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers at home this past week, the Sox take a day off Monday and then return to the site of their most recent World Series title. For the first time since game 4 of the 2007 World Series, the Sox will return to Coors Field in Colorado for a match-up with the Rockies. Just like Denver, the Sox have been riding a mile high on cloud nine these past few weeks as they climb towards the top of the AL East.
The Rockies have has a decent 2010 season, but sit in 4th place in the NL West, 4 games behind the division leading San Diego Padres. The Rockies have been much better at home (21-15) than the road this year (15-20), which may be partially because of the home field advantage they hold with the thin air of Denver. The biggest story in Colorado baseball this season has been the journey of arguably the best starting pitcher in the game of baseball. Ubaldo Jimenez made headlines across the country earlier this season when he threw the 19th perfect game in the history of the game of baseball.
Jimenez finally got the attention he deserved, because he has been a nearly dominate pitcher the last few years for the Rockies but has been mostly forgotten due to the Colorado media market. The Sox will have to face the 13-1 pitcher in the 2nd game of the series, when he matches up against John Lackey. In the opener, the Sox will lefty Jon Lester to the mound against Jhoulys Chacin who is 3-6 on the season with a 4.00 era. The final game of the series will pit Dice-K Matsuzaka back from injury against Jason Hammel, who has been on fire in the month of June, going 3-0 with a 0.31 era.
The Colorado offense suffered a huge loss this past week when their star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki broke his arm and will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks. His hot bat and defense is tough to replace in the Rockies lineup, but they still have 24-year old sensation Carlos Gonzalez, an outfielder who has dazzled in 2010. He already has 10 homeruns and is hitting near .300 on the season and has provided some much needed run-producing abilities, driving in a team leading 42 rbi. The Rockies are anchored by 14-year veteran Todd Helton, who hasn’t been great with the bat this year, but provides the team with strong leadership.
Overall, the Rockies are a solid ball club and with their strong starting pitching, can stifle strong offenses. If the Sox are going to come away from Colorado with a series victory, they need to knock-out the Rockies starters early and find a way to score in bunches, which is easier said than done. Anything is possible with the way the Red Sox have been playing overall and the closer the Sox get to the AL East lead, the more they can sense the opportunity they have each and every night.
Add us as a preferred source on Google