Colorado's been sliding the other direction, dropping 4 straight before this series and getting run out of the building by Milwaukee 11-2 along the way. Sugano's last start was a mixed bag — he got the win, but a shortened outing put extra strain on a Rockies bullpen that's already picking up the slack for injured arms like Jose Quintana and Chase Dollander.
This is the part of the calendar where two last-place clubs are mostly playing out the string, but Coors Field never stops being Coors Field. Thin air and a huge outfield have a way of turning modest lineups into scoreboard operators, and neither of these rotations is built to slam that door shut.
Kansas City's lineup has had to lean on complementary pieces with Witt and Pasquantino out, but the pitching staff — Wacha in particular — has quietly kept them competitive. Colorado's issue isn't really injuries at the top of the order so much as a bullpen that keeps getting exposed in blowouts, which matters a lot at altitude where a shaky relief crew can turn a close game into a laugher fast.
Neither club is playing for much beyond pride and roster evaluation at this point, but that's exactly the kind of setup where a team with a healthier pitching plan can steal a series. Kansas City's got that edge on paper Friday, even with the middle of its order thinned out.