The last time the Colorado Rockies came to Miller Park, they were riding a National League wild-card win and brimming with confidence. The Milwaukee Brewers ripped that confidence away with a sweep in the NL Divisional Series last October.
The Rockies are returning to Milwaukee for the first time since the playoffs, and again they are brimming with confidence.
After a 3-12 start, Colorado has turned things around and is coming off an impressive series in Atlanta. The Rockies nearly got the sweep of the three-game series, but the Braves rallied to win Sunday. Colorado has still won 10 of 13 since losing eight in a row.
The Brewers have had their struggles in the first month of the season, but one thing going right for them is the pitching of right-hander Zach Davies. The rest of the starting rotation has struggled, but Davies is 2-0 with a 1.65 ERA. He has not allowed more than two runs in any of his five starts.
Davies has pitched more than 5 2/3 innings in only one of those starts and is coming off his shortest start of the season, going 4 2/3 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.
He has two career starts against the Rockies, going 1-1 with a 6.10 ERA. He’ll be challenged by a lineup that has gotten healthy and is heating up. Colorado used a five-run rally in the ninth inning to beat the Braves 9-5 on Saturday night. Sunday, the Rockies led 7-5 halfway through the eighth before falling 8-7.
It’s hard to find someone swinging a hotter bat than the reigning NL MVP and Milwaukee star Christian Yelich. He hit his 14th home run in Saturday’s win over the New York Mets, tying him for the most ever in April with Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez. The Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger also equaled the mark on Sunday.
“That’s pretty cool. Obviously, those guys are pretty good baseball players,” Yelich said Saturday night after Milwaukee’s 8-6 win. “I haven’t really been thinking about it too much. Just head down, grinding. To be up there with those guys is definitely an honor.”
But Yelich may not have a chance to break the tie with Pujols, Rodriguez and Bellinger. He left Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Mets in the fifth inning with back discomfort and was deemed day-to-day by manager Craig Counsell.
Counsell added he will try to give Yelich the day off on Monday.
If Yelich can’t play, it won’t bother Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland, who is expected to be activated off the 10-day injured list for the opener of the four-game series. Freeland (2-3, 4.23) has battled a blister issue on his pitching hand that put him on the IL.
Freeland emerged as Colorado’s ace last season, winning 17 games after a slow start, and was the Opening Day starter this season.
He has battled blister issues in the past, and he’s hoping skipping a start will help. He threw a couple of bullpen sessions, including one Friday at SunTrust Park in Atlanta.
“Obviously, I’m going to monitor it throughout my next start,” Freeland told MLB.com on Friday. “But in the two side sessions I’ve had over the past three days, it feels good. I let it go. You’ve got to test it to make sure it’s ready. I tested it, throwing my bullpen at normal bullpen rate, and everything held up.”
Freeland has made two career starts against Milwaukee. He is 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings.
