Read More: Colorado Rockies

With less than a week to go until the 2011 MLB Draft, there appears to be some uncertainty at the top of the board while the Colorado Rockies’ selection may have come into sharper focus. While Rice’s Anthony Rendon and UCLA’s Gerrit Cole have long been speculated to go with the top two picks, high school outfielder Bubba Starling and Virginia LHP Danny Hultzen could also go there.

In Keith Law’s latest mock draft (Insider required), he still stick with Rendon and Cole as the top two picks, but he does hint that the Rockies may have already settled on their board:

The Rockies are heavy on Wong and Cron, with one (non-Rockies) cross-checker indicating that he thought they were down to those two players for this pick.

Law goes with Wong here since Utah’s C.J. Cron goes a few picks earlier. Wong would be a steady second baseman who plays solid defense and has a good approach at the plate. Cron is a big power bat who would be considered Todd Helton’s replacement in a few years.

And John Sickels at Minor League Ball also believes Wong is the pick here for the Rockies.

This appears to be a conservative approach to the draft, though the Rockies have taken risks the last two years with LHP high schooler Tyler Matzek (control issues in Hi-A) and Clemson OF/QB Kyle Parker. Might the Rockies want to take a chance on a guy like Georgia Tech LHP Jed Bradley, who slides to No. 21 in Law’s draft?

Read More: Ted Lilly (P – LOS), Clayton Mortensen (P – COL), Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers

It’s not often that a team collects 14 hits and manages only one run, but that’s what the Colorado Rockies did on Memorial Day in their 7-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was, obviously, not the way the team wanted to start their nine-game road trip.

They will try to put things in order on Tuesday evening with Clayton Mortensen on the mound. He is likely pitching to keep his spot in the rotation as Juan Nicasio is making a case to stay in the majors. With Aaron Cook making one more rehab start before being activated, either Mortensen or Nicasio will be sent back to the minors.

Mortensen is 1-2 in four starts with a 4.01 ERA and has picked up those losses in his last two starts. But he gets ground balls 57.6 percent of the time and strands nearly 78 percent of runners. A 4.58 FIP says he isn’t doing quite that well with outcomes that he is solely responsible for (four home runs, eight walks in last three starts, though 14 strikeouts), but a .196 BABIP shows he’s been extremely lucky on balls in play.

The Dodgers will have Ted Lilly pitch. Lilly signed a three-year, $33 million contract during the offseason, but he hasn’t had the greatest of seasons so far. However, he has put together back-to-back quality starts. While not picking up the win in either one, Lilly allowed three runs in seven innings to the Chicago White Sox and one run in six innings to the Houston Astros. He averages 5.93 strikeouts per nine innings, well below his career average of 7.65. His fastball now sits just around 86.5 mph.

First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. MT.

For more on the Rockies, Purple Row is your destination. For the Dodgers, visit True Blue LA and SB Nation Los Angeles.

(Sports Network) – The Los Angeles Dodgers will try to best the Colorado
Rockies for the sixth time in eight meetings this evening in the middle
portion of a three-game series between the National League West residents at
Chavez Ravine.

The Dodgers won 11 of their 18 games versus the Rockies last year, taking the
final four matchups. Colorado opened up the 2011 season series by sweeping a
two-game set at home on April 5-6, but Los Angeles posted a 7-1 victory in
last night’s opener.

James Loney paced the offense with a two-run homer and drove in three runs in
all, while Andre Ethier added two hits and three RBI to help the Dodgers
improve to 3-1 on a six-game homestand.

Chad Billingsley gave up a career-high 11 hits over his seven-inning outing,
but allowed just one run to improve to 4-4 on the season. He also struck out
eight.

“I had to make pitches when I had to,” Billingsley said. “I threw out of the
stretch a lot tonight.”

Ty Wigginton hit a solo homer for the Rockies, who have lost nine of their
last 11 games and now sit 4 1/2 games back of the Diamondbacks for first place
in the NL West. Colorado went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and
dropped the opener of a nine-game road trip.

Jason Hammel allowed seven runs on 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings to suffer the
loss. He hasn’t won since April 30.

“I am frustrated. It’s not fun right now. We have to make it fun,” Hammel
said.

Clayton Mortensen will look to avoid dropping his third start in a row when
he goes tonight for the Rockies.

The 26-year-old righty gave up four runs on five hits and three walks over six
innings against Arizona on Thursday. The big blow came when he walked
consecutive batters in the fourth inning before yielding a three-run homer.

“The walks are what killed me tonight,” Mortensen said.

Mortensen is 1-2 with a 2.83 earned run average in seven games this year,
including four starts, and has a 1.84 ERA in three road appearances. He faces
the Dodgers for the first time in his career.

Taking the hill for the Dodgers Tuesday night is Ted Lilly, who posted his
second straight no-decision on Wednesday even though he pitched well enough to
win. Lilly allowed a run on six hits and one walk over six innings, but his
club dropped a 2-1 decision. The run Lilly allowed came on a homer, the eighth
one he has given up in May.

The 35-year-old lefty is 3-4 with a season-low 4.41 ERA in 11 starts and 5-2
with a 4.47 ERA in eight career matchups with the Rockies.

The Sports Network

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Los Angeles pitcher Chad Billingsley weaved his way through the Colorado Rockies lineup on Monday, despite allowing a career-high 11 hits, to lead the Dodgers to a 7-1 victory.

Billingsley struck out eight and had to get himself out of trouble before sending the struggling Rockies to their ninth loss in 11 games.

When Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez was thrown out trying to score in the first inning, it was a sign of things to come as the Rockies left 13 runners on base and were unable to capitalize against Billingsley.

“It was definitely a huge play early in the game,” Billingsley told reporters after improving to 4-4 on the season.

“I had to make pitches when I needed to. It’s a funny game, you give up 11 hits and only one run.”

Los Angeles (25-30) fared much better at the plate, scoring four runs in the third inning to move ahead 4-0 before adding three more in the fifth where James Loney hit a two-run home run.

Loney finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs. He also added an RBI single in the third where Andre Ethier had a two-run single on his way to a three RBI night.

“We have one of the best pitching rotations and bullpens in the league when everyone is healthy,” Loney said. “If we can score some runs for these guys we should be a pretty good team.”

The Dodgers also received a standout pitching performance on Sunday when starter Clayton Kershaw fired a two-hit shutout in the Dodgers’ 8-0 win over the Florida Marlins.

The Rockies could not get the same effort from their starter Jason Hammel, who was charged with all seven runs in 4 2/3 innings. Hammel is without a win since April 30, a stretch of six starts.

Ty Wigginton blasted a home run in the fourth for Colorado’s only score, and Todd Helton added three hits.

(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Los Angeles pitcher Chad
Billingsley weaved his way through the Colorado Rockies lineup
on Monday, despite allowing a career-high 11 hits, to lead the
Dodgers to a 7-1 victory.

Billingsley struck out eight and had to get himself out of
trouble before sending the struggling Rockies to their ninth
loss in 11 games.

When Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez was thrown out trying to
score in the first inning, it was a sign of things to come as
the Rockies left 13 runners on base and were unable to
capitalise against Billingsley.

“It was definitely a huge play early in the game,”
Billingsley told reporters after improving to 4-4 on the
season.

“I had to make pitches when I needed to. It’s a funny game,
you give up 11 hits and only one run.”

Los Angeles (25-30) fared much better at the plate, scoring
four runs in the third inning to move ahead 4-0 before adding
three more in the fifth where James Loney hit a two-run home
run.

Loney finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs. He also added an
RBI single in the third where Andre Ethier had a two-run single
on his way to a three RBI night.

“We have one of the best pitching rotations and bullpens in
the league when everyone is healthy,” Loney said. “If we can
score some runs for these guys we should be a pretty good
team.”

The Dodgers also received a standout pitching performance
on Sunday when starter Clayton Kershaw fired a two-hit shutout
in the Dodgers’ 8-0 win over the Florida Marlins.

The Rockies could not get the same effort from their
starter Jason Hammel, who was charged with all seven runs in 4
2/3 innings. Hammel is without a win since April 30, a stretch
of six starts.

Ty Wigginton blasted a home run in the fourth for
Colorado’s only score, and Todd Helton added three hits.