(Sportsbooks) - The pitcher who has emerged into the unlikely ace of the
Los Angeles Dodgers' staff will be asked to play the role of spoiler when the National League West contenders resume a three-game series against the visiting
Colorado Rockies this evening.
On a team that contains former All-Star hurlers Brad Penny and Derek Lowe and just recently added future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, Chad Billingsley has been the Dodgers' best and most consistent pitcher this season. The talented 24-year-old leads Los Angeles with 12 victories and a 3.10 earned run average, while his 162 strikeouts trails only San Francisco's Tim Lincecum for tops in the NL.
Billingsley also enters tonight's matchup on a roll. The stocky right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.34 ERA over his last five starts and allowed just one home run over that strong stretch.
He maintained his strong recent form with a home win over Milwaukee on Friday, holding the Brewers to three runs on five hits in seven innings. The triumph improved Billingsley to 8-4 in 14 games at Dodger Stadium this year, and he owns a 3.28 ERA on the home mound in 2008.
Billingsley will be facing a Colorado squad he has never beaten in his three- year major league career, although he's yet to pitch against the Rockies during his breakthrough 2008 campaign. In six games (4 starts) versus Colorado, the former first-round pick is 0-2 with a 6.46 ERA.
He'll be attempting to draw the Dodgers even in this series after the club dropped Tuesday's opener to the Rockies by an 8-3 score. Ian Stewart belted one of three homers for Colorado and knocked in a career-high five runs to lead the way.
Matt Holliday and the red-hot Brad Hawpe also went deep for the Rockies, with Holliday collecting four hits on the evening to help his team to its fourth straight win.
Hawpe homered for a second straight day and is batting .478 (11-for-23) with four long balls and nine RBI over the course of a six-game hit streak.
Ubaldo Jimenez (9-11) benefited from Colorado's power surge, with the young pitcher picking up the win after allowing three runs and striking out seven over the first five innings.
Hiroki Kuroda (7-9) was saddled with the loss after giving up four runs in six innings of work.
Jeff Kent finished 3-for-5 with an RBI double for Los Angeles, which had won six of seven coming in. Matt Kemp also doubled in a run and ended with a pair of hits.
The loss dropped the Dodgers out of a first-place tie with Arizona in the NL West standings. The Diamondbacks posted a 7-6 win over San Diego on Tuesday.
Jeff Francis gets the starting assignment for the Rockies tonight. The left- hander, who won a career-high 17 games during Colorado's pennant-winning 2007 season, is a disappointing 3-8 with a 5.74 ERA in 19 starts this year. However, one of those victories came at the expense of the Dodgers.
Francis twirled seven shutout innings to beat Los Angeles at Coors Field on June 3 in one of his sharpest outings of the year. He is 1-1 with a 2.79 ERA in three 2008 starts against the Dodgers and 5-2 with an excellent 2.69 ERA over 12 lifetime encounters with tonight's opponent.
The 27-year-old has made two starts since returning from a near six-week stint on the disabled list. After giving up five runs over 5 1/3 innings in an August 7 loss to Washington, Francis permitted three in a six-inning no- decision against Arizona last Wednesday. He hasn't notched a victory since June 18.
Los Angeles holds a 7-6 edge in this year's season series with Colorado and has taken four of seven tests between the clubs at Dodger Stadium in 2008. However, the Rockies have won five of the last six meetings.
