Oakland A’s Series Preview #16: Rockies look to repeat success against A’s

The Oakland A’s have escaped the smoky atmosphere of Seattle, but unfortunately their next destination solves that problem by just not having any air at all. That’s right, it’s time for a couple days up in the high mountain elevation of Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies.

Colorado Rockies

• 2020 record: 21-25

Last time these two teams faced, for two games in late July at the Coliseum, the Rockies dominated in a sweep. They hit better, pitched better, and generally cruised past the A’s in the early-season matchup.

Since then, the two sides have gone in opposite direction. The A’s found their mojo in just about every area of the game, and while they’re not perfect they’ve still done enough to put together a 30-18 record that ranks first in their division and third in the entire American League.

Meanwhile, the Rockies have relatively struggled and currently stand below .500, thanks largely to a crushing seven-game losing streak in mid-August against the Astros and Dodgers. That slump was part of a larger span in which they lost 12 of 14, which just can’t happen in a short 60-game season if you want to seriously contend.

Things aren’t looking much better for the Rockies lately, either. They’ve lost five of their last six, including a sweep by the Padres and a series loss to the Angels in which their only win came on a walk-off (aka a close game).

Can the A’s exact some vengeance for their July losses, or will the Rockies get back on track against a club they’ve beaten in each of their last five meetings dating back through 2018?

Projected lineup

This is their lineup Tuesday against a lefty starter.

• LF Raimel Tapia (L)
• SS Trevor Story (R)
• RF Charlie Blackmon (L)
• 3B Nolan Arenado (R)
• CF Kevin Pillar (R)
• DH Matt Kemp (R)
• 1B Josh Fuentes (R)
• C Elias Diaz (R)
• 2B Garrett Hampson (R)

Against a right-hander on Wednesday, we could see lefties like outfielder David Dahl or second baseman Ryan McMahon, and perhaps struggling DH Daniel Murphy.

Starting pitchers

These are the two expected starters:

• Tue: Antonio Senzatela (R) vs. Sean Manaea (5:40 p.m.)
• Wed: German Marquez (R) vs. Mike Fiers (12:10 p.m.)

As chance would have it, the A’s will face the exact two starters they saw in July, in the same order. Both are having nice seasons with ERAs far better than average, with Senzatela’s results outpacing his peripherals, and Marquez the opposite. Against Oakland, they combined to work 11 innings with just three runs allowed.

Fun fact: New A’s DH Jake Lamb is the batter that Marquez has faced third-most often in his career (33 times), and Lamb is batting .313 (10-for-32) with a homer and a double (.771 OPS), albeit 10 strikeouts too.

Bench/Bullpen

Here’s the Rockies’ full 28-man roster:

10-day IL: RHP Jon Gray (shoulder), IF Brendan Rodgers (shoulder), UT Chris Owings (hamstring)

45-day IL: RHP Joe Harvey (elbow), RHP Peter Lambert (TJS), RHP Scott Oberg (back)