Los Angeles Dodgers: Fireworks in Colorado off a familiar face

The Los Angeles Dodgers are set for one of the most important series thus far: a four-game series with the Colorado Rockies in Colorado.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies are squaring off in an extremely important series from Thursday to Sunday that may shift the entire balance of the NL West.

While this series will not directly affect the Arizona Diamondbacks, it can create a nice cushion between the winning and losing team of this series, especially if one of the teams sweeps each other.

A sweep for either team would be the biggest series win of the season thus far. This is especially true for the Dodgers, who have been mediocre the last week and a half since almost being no-hit by Sean Newcomb of the Braves.

The Dodgers were unable to gain some serious momentum and start a nice three-game winning streak and fell to the Oakland Athletics, 3-2, on Wednesday. Luckily, that was not a sweep and the two sides ended up splitting the season series two games apiece.

In that final game, the Dodgers were able to extend both of our Los Angeles Dodgers Beat the Streak hitting streaks, so that is a minor victory within a loss.

On Thursday, the Dodgers are set to square off against a familiar face in Rockies’ southpaw Tyler Anderson.

Sarah’s pick — Current streak 3: Justin Turner

My pick for today’s game against the Rockies is Justin Turner. Turner may not be as strong of a hitter as he was last year, but that is only because he has been dealing with injuries all season.

His presence in the clubhouse, however, has helped turn this team from a club in fourth place, hoping to get back to the postseason, to a team that seems ready, and up for the challenge.

Tonight Tyler Anderson will be on the mound for Colorado, and Turner is batting .524 in 21 at-bats against the Rockies’ southpaw. A lot of players make impacts on and off the field, but Turner’s off-the-field impact may just be as important as his batting average and his slugging percentage.

Jason’s pick — Current streak 3: Matt Kemp

Matt Kemp is another name that has hit fairly well off Tyler Anderson in his career. While his sample size is much smaller, Kemp has a lifetime .444 batting average against Anderson in nine at-bats in his career (that is good enough for four hits).

Kemp finally had something go his way on Tuesday as he plated a crucial insurance run with a single in the seventh. After a night off, Kemp looks primed to hit the Colorado Rockies southpaw well and hit him far.