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Dodgers turn to Yoshinobu Yamamoto in rematch vs. Rockies

The Dodgers have been dominant in Los Angeles this season, going 30-14, and they treated Coors Field in Denver like a second home on Tuesday night, beating the Colorado Rockies 9-7 in the opener of a three-game series.

The Dodgers will vie for their 18th series win of the season on Wednesday night when they send Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-6, 2.76 ERA) to the mound against Chase Dollander (2-7, 6.19) in a matchup of right-handers.

Los Angeles has won eight games in a row against the Rockies, including four this season. The Dodgers haven’t relied on one player to consistently beat Colorado, and Tuesday was no different.

Michael Conforto was one of the heroes in the opener of this series, hitting a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the fourth inning and adding a double.

The home run, his fifth of the season, was a big hit for Conforto, who signed with Los Angeles in the offseason but had been struggling. He entered the series hitting .165 but had the backing of Los Angeles general manager Andrew Friedman last week.

Dodgers' Dave Roberts Gives Update on Yoshinobu Yamamoto's Recovery Progression

“To date, obviously, Michael hasn’t performed up to what he expected or we expected,” Friedman told the Los Angeles Times. “But watching the way he is working, watching the progress being made, I would bet that his next two months are way better than his last two months.”

Yamamoto is set to face the Rockies for the fourth time in his career. He is 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA in his three starts against them, with of those coming in Denver, where he gave up two runs in five innings in a 13-2 Dodgers win on Sept. 28, 2024.

Dollander, meanwhile, has yet to face the Dodgers in his 12 starts this season. He made his major league debut on April 6, and his turn in the rotation didn’t come up when Colorado visited Los Angeles.

The Rockies have lost three of the first four contests of a six-game homestand against National League West teams and have yet to win consecutive games at home. They have just eight wins at Coors Field and 10 on the road this season.

One bright spot despite the season-long struggles is the return of Michael Toglia, who struggled early in the season before being optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque at the end of May with a .194 average. Toglia spent three weeks with the Isotopes getting his swing right and was recalled on June 16.

He is hitting .303 this month after Tuesday night’s three-double game and has cut down on his strikeouts. He fanned 81 times before his demotion and 11 times in eight games in his return.

“If you get really good at what you’re good at, I think the strikeouts will go down,” Toglia said. “I’m not the kind of hitter where I focus on just putting the ball in play, not striking out. I’ve tried that before, and that hasn’t worked.

“I have to stay aggressive, try to do damage. When that is my mentality, that’s when I’m the best version of me.”