Cincinnati Reds at Colorado Rockies

The Reds and Rockies enter the weekend a combined 30 games under .500, but Coors Field has a way of making even hopeless baseball fun to watch.

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Colorado's overall record is worse than Cincinnati's, but home field at altitude matters, and the Reds are trotting out a starter with a 4.91 ERA who just got shelled in his final pre-break outing. Backing the Rockies here is a bet on the thin air and a shaky Cincinnati arm more than anything the Rockies have shown on paper.

Reds

• +De La Cruz anchors a lineup Francona won't tinker with
• +beat Cubs 4-0 and Phillies 11-5 in last 5
• −15.5 games back at the All-Star break
• −rotation crumbling: Lodolo, Burns, Williamson all hurt
• −Lowder 3-6, 4.91 ERA, got shelled last start

Rockies

• +133 runs in the 8th inning or later, most since 1974
• +Hunter Goodman made the All-Star team
• +took series from Giants right before the break
• −39-59, last place in NL West
• −11-23 against division opponents
• −bullpen overworked all season, no starter named for Saturday

Cincinnati's rotation is in triage mode. With Nick Lodolo back on the injured list because of a recurring finger blister, Terry Francona has turned to Rhett Lowder to soak up starts after the All-Star break. Lowder hasn't earned that responsibility with results — he's 3-6 with a 4.91 ERA, and his final start before the break was a mess: 4.2 innings, 6 earned runs, 11 hits against Milwaukee. Colorado hasn't named its starter for Saturday's 1:10 PM MT first pitch, so there's no name to hang expectations on there.

Both clubs are banged up in ways that shape who's actually on the field. The Reds are without Chase Burns (groin), Matt McLain (calf) and Blake Dunn (elbow), on top of Lodolo — that's a rotation and a lineup both running thin. Colorado is missing Brenton Doyle in center and has a graveyard of arms on the 60-day list, which is exactly why Warren Schaeffer has had to lean so hard on his bullpen all year. Neither team is walking into this series at full strength.

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CIN Reds

COL Rockies

Where Colorado has actually found an identity is late in games. The Rockies have scored 133 runs in the eighth inning or later this season, the most by any club before the All-Star break since 1974 — a stat that says a lot about a team that refuses to fold even while sitting in last place in the NL West. Hunter Goodman making the All-Star team was a rare bright spot for a group that's otherwise been defined by a brutal 11-23 mark in divisional play.

Cincinnati Reds

Jul 17?@ Rockies—

Colorado Rockies

Jul 17?vs Reds—

Cincinnati doesn't have a similar silver lining. The Reds dropped 3 of their last 5 heading into the break, including back-to-back losses to the Cubs sandwiched around a shutout win, and they enter this series 15.5 games out of a playoff spot. Francona has said he's not moving Elly De La Cruz out of the leadoff spot regardless of how the offense is scuffling, which says this group is playing out the string with the roster it has rather than shaking things up.

Cincinnati Reds

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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report

Colorado Rockies

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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report

Neither team is playing for October, but that's kind of the point of a series like this — no pressure, just two rosters trying to find out who they've got before 2027 planning starts in earnest.