Chad Billingsley has struggled in his career at Coors Field, but the Los Angeles Dodgers need him to pitch deep into Sunday's series finale against the Colorado Rockies in Denver. The Dodgers used all seven relief pitchers on their roster in Saturday's 13-inning loss to Colorado, so it stands to reason some of those pitchers would be unavailable in the series finale. A number of relievers threw a lot of pitches on Saturday:
- Closer Javy Guerra threw 32 pitches
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Scott Elbert threw 25 pitches after throwing 16 pitches Friday
- Matt Guerrier threw 23 pitches after throwing 16 pitches Friday
- Blake Hawksworth threw 13 pitches after throwing 12 pitches Friday
- Mike MacDougal threw 22 pitches after throwing four pitches Friday
- Hong-Chih Kuo only faced three batters, but did so over two innings, and the club has been cautious with Kuo regarding pitching in multiple innings
The Dodgers have only had a reliever throw on three straight days three times this season. What this all means is that Chad Billingsley simply needs to have a good outing, which has been hard to come by at Coors Field.
Billingsley has made six starts and one relief appearance in his career, and the results have not been good. Billingsley is 1-5 with a 7.88 ERA with 21 walks and 19 strikeouts. This season Billingsley has lost both starts in Colorado, allowing 11 runs and 19 hits in 7 2/3 innings. The Dodgers beat Billingsley on April 6 and June 10.
Kevin Millwood starts for the Rockies, making his third start for Colorado. Millwood was on a minor league deal with the Red Sox this season, but Boston released him on August 6. Two days later he signed with the Rockies, and in two starts he has allowed seven runs in 13 innings, with two walks and nine strikeouts. However, Millwood has allowed five home runs in those 13 innings, so expect fireworks in Colorado today.
Sunday's 12:10 p.m. PDT game will be televised by Prime Ticket. For more news and information, be sure to read True Blue LA.