Rockies, Dodgers both seeking 1-up victory

DENVER -- Both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies will take the field Saturday night with a magic number of one, albeit for different stakes.

The Dodgers, who lost 9-1 to the Rockies on Friday night, need one win or one loss by both the Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros to clinch home field throughout the entire postseason. The Dodgers are 102-59. The Indians and Astros both won Friday night, leaving the Indians at 101-59 and the Astros at 100-60.

One win by the Rockies (87-73) or one loss by the Milwaukee Brewers (85-75) will clinch the second National League wild card for the Rockies and put them in the postseason for the fourth time in the 25-year history of the franchise -- and first time since 2009.

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw (18-4, 2.21 ERA) will start and is expected to pitch about five innings in his final outing before Oct. 6, when he is scheduled to start Game 1 of the NL Division Series. German Marquez (11-7, 4.38) will start for the Rockies.

The Dodgers are 22-4 in games started by Kershaw, who is 21-7 with a 3.16 ERA in 37 career starts against the Rockies, with 73 walks and 258 strikeouts in 231 innings. He is 9-4 with a 4.58 ERA in 19 starts at Coors Field, which is Kershaw's highest ERA at any ballpark where he has pitched more than one inning.

"It's more about outpitching the other pitcher," Dodger manager Dave Roberts said. "And this ballpark, it is what it is. And he's had plenty of outings here, and he's pitched well here, and maybe not as well as he'd liked, but the goal is to outpitch the other guy and win the game. That's his mindset and I know however long he goes tomorrow, that's what he's going to do."

Kershaw is 3-2 with a 3.64 ERA in five starts this season against the Rockies. He last faced them Sept. 7 at Los Angeles and took the loss, giving up six hits, four runs and three walks with seven strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings in Colorado's 9-1 victory.

Since returning from a back injury that sidelined him five weeks, Kershaw has made five starts this month, going 3-2 with a 3.03 ERA -- his highest ERA in any month this season. He won his last start when he gave up one run in eight innings Sunday against San Francisco in a 3-1 victory.

The Rockies are 17-11 in starts by Marquez, who won his last outing Sunday at San Diego when he allowed five hits, two runs and three walks in five innings with three strikeouts as the Rockies won 8-4.

Marquez is 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA in one career start against the Dodgers. It was Sept. 8 at Dodger Stadium, where he allowed six hits and four runs, two earned, in four innings with three walks and two strikeouts in the Rockies' 5-4 win. Marquez is 6-3 with a 4.60 ERA in 12 starts at Coors Field and has made great progress in his rookie season.

"He's maintained his stuff," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "He's been in a good place physically with his velocity, his secondary pitches, his side work. He's withstood the rigors of being a big league pitcher, making a lot of starts. That's a good sign.

"Watching him grow in confidence as we moved through the summer, even to the point now where I think there's a great deal of confidence -- I think I saw that in spring training, but it's been re-affirmed by what I saw during the course of the season. There's a looseness to him also, which is good. He's not wound tight, but yet he's extremely competitive and is a good worker. There's a lot of things on the plus side."