Two Struggling Clubs Collide at Coors: Red Sox vs. Rockies
Two teams well below .500 meet at Coors Field tonight in a matchup that carries more weight than the standings suggest. Neither Boston (31-45) nor Colorado (31-48) can afford to sleepwalk through late June, and the altitude-friendly confines of Coors make any game a potential fireworks show.
Sonny Gray is expected to take the mound for Boston in what figures to be a stern test. Pitching at Coors Field is a different animal than anywhere else in baseball — OPINION — and Gray will need to be precise if he wants to keep the Rockies' lineup honest. Across the diamond, Sean Sullivan is set to start for Colorado, and how he handles a Red Sox lineup that has shown real pop will go a long way toward determining the game's complexion early.
The player to watch on the Boston side is Willson Contreras, who is hitting .281 with 16 home runs and 45 RBI on the season. Those are legitimate middle-of-the-order numbers, and OPINION — at Coors, a hitter with that kind of power profile becomes even more dangerous. Colorado counters with a trio worth tracking: Troy Johnston is hitting a robust .308, Hunter Goodman leads the club with 21 home runs, and TJ Rumfield has driven in 42 runs. OPINION — Goodman's power at altitude is the kind of variable that can flip a game in a single swing, and Sullivan will need run support to stay competitive against a Gray who, when on, can be difficult to square up.
Our model does not have a validated read on this one tonight, so we're not going to manufacture a lean where there isn't one. What we can say — OPINION — is that this matchup has the ingredients for a high-scoring affair. Two sub-.500 teams, a thin-air ballpark, and starters who haven't been given a clean bill of health by our system? That's a recipe for a game that gets away from somebody fast. Watch the first three innings closely. If either starter struggles to find the zone early at Coors, the bullpens could be tested well before the seventh. First pitch is at 8:40 PM ET, available on MLB.TV, Rockies.TV, and NESN.