PHOENIX r12; g pitching performance to stay on track Saturday.Right-hander Antonio Senzatela gave up three hits in seven innings in a 5-1 victory over Arizona http://www.dodgersfanproshop.com/authentic-max-muncy-jersey , following German Marquezr17;s dominant outing Friday as the Rockies took the first two games of a three-game series.The Rockies trail the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West and the St. Louis Cardinals for the final wild-card spot. Each deficit is 1 1/2 games. The Diamondbacks, who led the division Sept. 1, is one loss away from elimination.Article continues below ...r0;We need to get it done, no matter how we get it,r1; said Colorado catcher Chris Iannetta, whose two-out, two-run single triggered a decisive four-run third inning.r0;We just need to get wins. We donr17;t have many games left. We need some help from teams in front of us to lose some games, and we have to win a bunch. Itr17;s going to be difficult, but wer17;ll just try to win one each day and see what happens.r1;Colorado left-hander Kyle Freeland (15-7, 2.95) is to face Arizona righty Zack Godley (14-10, 4.79) in Sundayr17;s series finale. Freeland has made nine consecutive quality starts.If home field means anything, Colorado might have a bit of an edge as it looks to make up the necessary ground in the final week of the season.The Rockies, who have played one fewer game than the Dodgers, will play their final seven games at Coors Field against NL East teams Philadelphia and Washington. Both have been eliminated from the playoffs.The Rockies set a franchise record with 43 road wins after taking the first two games of the Arizona series Saturday and also are 41-33 at home.The Dodgers will play their final game this season against San Diego on Sunday. They have road series remaining against Arizona and the Padres. St. Louis has a three-game home series against contending Milwaukee beginning Monday before closing the season with a three-game set against the NL Central-leading Cubs at Wrigley Field.r0;I think most teams feel comfortable and confident at home,r1; Colorado manager Bud Black said. r0;I think we do. Wer17;re much better at home the second half of the season. We play the schedule.r1;Arizona has lost 11 of 14 with the troubles coming because of a sluggish offense compounded by a suddenly leaky bullpen.r0;I go back to Jim Carrey r16;your17;re saying there a chancer17;,r1; Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. r0;Ir17;ve going to live until I can take no more breaths, and I feel like the whole clubhouse will do the same.r1;Freeland http://www.dodgersfanproshop.com/authentic-ross-stripling-jersey , a native of Denver who was the Rockiesr17; first round pick in the 2014 draft, has developed into a star in his second season in the rotation, and with right-hander Marquez appears to give the Rockies a dominant 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation for years to come. Freeland is 25. Marquez 23. Freeland is fifth in the NL in ERA and victories and fourth in WAR, and has only gotten sharper as the season has moved along. He is 9-1 with a 2.43 ERA in his last 18 starts, and has given up more than three runs only once in that stretch. The Rockies have won 14 of his 18 starts during that span.r0;Her17;s doing what successful pitchers do,r1; Black said. r0;Her17;s throwing a lot of strikes in good spots within his repertoire, and his repertoire is solid major league stuff across the board. He pitches with a great deal of aggressiveness and confidence. Her17;s been able to make a pitch when he needs to, to get out of an inning and get out of a jam.r1;The Rockies have won three of Freelandr17;s previous four starts against the Diamondbacks, although he is 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA against them this season and 2-2 against them in his career. He gave up four runs in five innings in his only start at Chase Field.r0;Changing speeds very well, much better than he did a year ago,r1; Black said. r0;The consistency of his slider is much improved from last year. Fastball command much improved. The strikeout/walk ratio are in order for his type of stuff. Her17;s fielding his position. Her17;s holding runners well. All the things that make his successful.r1;Godley was pushed back until Sunday to give Zack Greinke and Patrick Corbin the first two cracks the Rockies in this series, a maneuver designed to give Arizona the best chance to win this series and in the final week of the season.Like Freeland, Godley has set career highs in virtually every statistical category in his first full season in the rotation, although he has battled consistency at times. He leads the NL with 12 hit batters and 16 wild pitches, and his 1.45 WHIP ranks 30th of the 31 NL qualifiers.Godley has not been at his best since mid-August, going 1-4 with a 7.42 ERA in his last six starts. Included in that was a 13-2 loss at Colorado on Sept. 10, the first contest of a four-game series in which the Rockies won three. He is 1-1 with a 6.14 ERA in three starts against the Rockies this season and is 4-1 Yasmani Grandal Jersey , 3.99 in eight career outings. MILWAUKEE (AP) r12; Wade Miley, take two.And this time, the Milwaukee Brewers left-hander figures to seeing more than one batter in his next start in the NL Championship Series.It comes on Friday night when Miley will try to help the Brewers stave off elimination, down 3-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.Miley goes back to the hill two days after being lifted after facing leadoff hitter Cody Bellinger in Game 5 in a designed move by manager Craig Counsell. The Dodgers are going with left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu in a rematch of the Game 2 starters.r0;I think Ir17;ll be fine. Just got to go out and make pitches,r1; Miley said at Dodger Stadium after the Brewers fell 5-2 Wednesday.The last pitcher to start back-to-back games in the same postseason series was George Earnshaw of the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1930 World Series, according to STATS. Earnshaw tossed seven shutout innings in Game 5 before pitching a complete game two days later, allowing one run in a win that took the series.Can you top that, Wade?r0;I started the end of an All-Star break and the other side of it,r1; Miley said.Not quite the same. Miley got the last start against the Dodgers, and was pulled after a five-pitch walk.Reliever Brandon Woodruff did the bulk of the Brewersr17; initial r0;out-gettingr1; after coming in to face the second batter, Justin Turner. Woodruff allowed three runs, two earned, along with five hits and a walk while fanning eight in taking the loss after going 5 1/3 innings.Counsell explained that the unconventional move was an effort to get the best matchups. The Dodgers led off with lefty-hitting Bellinger before going with three straight right-handers in the lineup. They had one other lefty in the starting lineup, power hitter Max Muncy.Results were mixed. Los Angeles was held scoreless until the fourth, then broke through with five runs over the next three innings to move within one win of a return trip to the World Series.This was the latest extension of the Brewersr17; pitching-by-committee strategy in the postseason. Milwaukee is playing to one of its strengths, which is a deep, hard-throwing bullpen. More teams around the league picked up on the maneuver after the Tampa Bay Rays started using bullpen days to get through some games this season.When asked http://www.dodgersfanproshop.com/authentic-joc-pederson-jersey , Counsell said that he didnr17;t think that lifting Miley after one batter broke down baseball norms or trust between opposing manager. He pointed to teams using pinch-hitters to replace a starter after just one at-bat, similar to what Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has done with the right-handed hitting David Freese and Muncy at first base.r0;Wer17;re using our roster, wer17;re using our full roster, I think thatr17;s what all teams are doing in the playoffs,r1; Counsell said Thursday, a day off as the series shifts back to Miller Park.In Houston, Astros manager AJ Hinch said such pitching strategies are r0;fair gamer1; now.r0;Craig has been doing it since Sept. 1. (Tampa manager) Kevin Cash has been doing it since May,r1; Hinch said before Game 5 of the AL Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox.Hinch noted that the Brewers used reliever Dan Jennings to start a game against the Cardinals on Sept. 24 before pulling Jennings after retiring the first batter.r0;You canr17;t be caught off guard with that stuff. (The Dodgers) werenr17;t caught off guard,r1; Hinch said.r0;Your17;re allowed to play all your players whenever you want to. So I think itr17;s ludicrous to think that itr17;s r30; an ethical issue when your17;re playing your players how you want,r1; Hinch added.For the 31-year-old Miley, the back-to-back starts are another highlight in a turnaround season with Milwaukee. Miley was 5-2 with a 2.67 ERA over 80-plus innings in 16 regular-season starts after joining the club on a minor league contract in spring training.He hasnr17;t given up a run in 10 1/3 innings this postseason. If it were up to him, Miley would stay in as long as possible.r0;Craigr17;s the manager, he makes the final decision,r1; Miley said this week, r0;but at the same time, you want to make it as tough on them as possible. We try to go out there and do the best we can.r1;
