The Los Angeles Dodgers open a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies this week after finishing a matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers, and Monday’s opener puts Emmet Sheehan and Tanner Gordon at the center of a game with different stakes for each club. The Dodgers are chasing the San Diego Padres in a heated race for the National League West lead, while the Rockies are trying to stop a slide that has left them buried in the division.
Sheehan will start for Los Angeles on Monday, May 25, against Gordon for Colorado. The right-hander gave up four runs over four innings in his last outing against the Padres, and he carries a 4.93 ERA across nine starts this season. He was better against Colorado last month, when he allowed two runs over five innings and struck out four in a four-game set that ended in a split.
The Dodgers and Rockies know each other well by now. They split that four-game series in April, and this meeting comes with Los Angeles at 33-20 and in direct pursuit of San Diego, while Colorado arrives at 20-34 and in last place in the NL West. For the Rockies, the issue is not just one bad week. Colorado has lost eight consecutive series, a run that has turned almost every trip into another test of damage control.
Gordon gets the ball after a rough week of his own. He worked 6.1 innings in bulk relief against the Texas Rangers and allowed seven runs on 12 hits, leaving him with a 6.59 ERA over 27.1 innings this season. That kind of line is hard enough against any lineup, and it is a tougher assignment against a Dodgers team that has kept pressure on the top of the division all month.
That is what gives Monday’s game its edge. Los Angeles does not need a statement win to understand the stakes; it needs to keep pace. Colorado does not need a long speech about the standings; it needs to find a way to stop a streak that has become part of the story every time it takes the field. The first game of the series should tell both clubs something they already know, but cannot ignore for long.
