As the Colorado Rockies aim to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, there will likely be more than just Colorado and Los Angeles fans eagerly paying attention. The entire country of Japan may very well be checking in as two of their most beloved stars take center stage on the mound to square off for the first time in their careers.
Tomoyuki Sugano ( 菅野 智之 ) enters the game as one of the Rockies’ most reliable starters this season. While Sugano-san has had a couple of rough outings this season, he sports a 4-3 record and a 3.86 ERA. His last outing on the road against Arizona started some of the spiraling for a ragged rotation as he allowed two runs on six hits over 6.2 innings of work. It was the first quality start for the Rockies since the beginning of May and was representative of the veteran at his best. He continues to pound the zone, allowing more than two walks in just a single start this season. He has only gathered more than three strikeouts twice, but ground balls and weak fly balls have been the name of the game. Through his last six starts, he has only allowed four home runs, three of which came in his start against the Philadelphia Phillies.
In his last start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which came at Coors Field, Sugano gave up five runs on nine hits in four innings of work.
Shohei Ohtani ( 大谷 翔平 ) has ascended to another level on the mound this season as he has his eyes set on the Cy Young Award. Ohtani-san is 4-2 on the year with a microscopic 0.73 ERA over 49 innings of work. . He has worked at least six innings in seven of his eight starts and allowed at least one earned run in just three starts. His last outing against San Diego saw the two-way star fire five shutout innings while allowing just three hits and striking out four. He features a varied pitch mix with up to nine different types of pitches, making it difficult for opposing hitters to adjust to what’s coming. Ohtani generates plenty of swing-and-misses while pounding the zone.
He has made two career starts against the Rockies, posting a 4.91 ERA over 11 innings of work. His last outing came in 2025, where he allowed five runs on nine hits over four innings at Coors Field.
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