Orioles at Rockies
The Colorado Rockies get to follow up a difficult road trip with their longest homestand of the season, beginning with the first of three games against the struggling Baltimore Orioles on Friday. A 14-6 loss at Pittsburgh on Thursday capped a 3-5 trip for the Rockies, who also host Arizona and Toronto during their 10-game stay at Coors Field.
Colorado did take some comfort in rallying from an early eight-run hole to get within two runs before everything came apart in the eighth. "I think that's the good thing about our team," Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado told reporters Thursday. "We're pretty resilient. We're always going to fight. Try to have good quality at-bats up there. We never gave up." The Orioles will probably welcome a change of scenery after losing all four to the New York Yankees at home, capped by Thursday's 6-5 loss on a bases-loaded walk in the ninth. They will start lefty John Means in the series opener while the Rockies are expected to call up right-hander Jeff Hoffman from Triple-A Albuquerque.
TV: 8:40 p.m. ET, MASN2 (Baltimore), AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles LH John Means (5-4, 2.68 ERA) vs. Rockies RH Jeff Hoffman (0-1, 7.20)
Means opened May with back-to-back wins while allowing two runs and seven hits over 13 total innings. He was not as sharp in a loss at Cleveland on Saturday, giving up three runs across five frames and striking out a season low-tying one batter. The West Virginia University product, who has a 3.00 ERA in his seven starts, will be making his first career interleague appearance.
Hoffman gave up four runs over five innings with six strikeouts and no walks in a spot start against Washington on April 23 before returning to Triple-A Albuquerque. He was pounded for eight runs over 5 2/3 frames in his last start for the Isotopes and has a 7.57 ERA in the minors this year. The 26-year-old, who owns a 7.41 mark in 23 career games (14 starts) at Coors Field, has never faced the Orioles.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Orioles last visited Coors Field in 2004. The teams have split 12 meetings at Baltimore since then.
2. Rockies RF Charlie Blackmon left in the fourth inning Thursday with a calf injury and is reportedly doubtful for the opener with Baltimore.
3. Colorado 2B Brendan Rodgers has four RBIs in four games since being called up from the minors.