The home-stand continues tonight for the Dodgers, who welcome the Colorado Rockies to town after dropping two-of-three in Denver last week. The Dodgers share the league’s best record with the Cardinals at 20-11, and hold the top mark at home, going 12-3.

The first matchup is a duel between two lefties who are very similar, yet extremely different. Chris Capuano is 4-0 with a 2.21 ERA, and could very well be in consideration as to being one of 2012′s biggest surprises not just in the Dodgers organization, but also in the whole league. Capuano missed the Rockies last week, but catches up with them tonight, looking to extend his scoreless inning streak of 18.2 innings.

In each of those two starts, Capuano allowed three hits in nearly 7.0 innings (pitching 6.2 against the Nationals). He averaged eight strikeouts between the outings.

Chris holds a 4-5 record with a 3.68 ERA in his career against Colorado, including going 0-2 with a 6.57 ERA last year.

Moyer has seen his ERA drop from 4.84 in Philadelphia to 4.01 for the Rockies. I don’t expect those numbers to hold up, especially given his career mark of 3-6 with a 5.50 ERA against the Dodgers, not being able to beat them since 2000.

At Dodger Stadium he is 1-3 with a 6.00 ERA.

Colorado Rockies (13-17) at Los Angeles Dodgers (20-11)
7:10 PM PST, May 11, 2012
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California
TV: Prime Ticket
Radio: 570 AM (English), 1020 AM (Spanish)
Promotion: Friday Night Fireworks
Game-Time Weather: 61 degrees, mostly clear

Rockies Projected Starters:
P: Jamie Moyer
C: Ramon Hernandez
1B: Todd Helton
2B: Marco Scutaro
SS: Troy Tulowitzki
3B: Chris Nelson
LF: Carlos Gonzalez
CF: Dexter Fowler
RF: Michael Cuddyer

Key Bench Players: 1B Jason Giambi, RF Tyler Colvin

Dodgers Last 10: (5-5): W vs SF, L vs SF, W vs SF, L @ CHC, W @ CHC, L @ CHC, L @ COL, W @ COL, L @ COL, W vs WAS.
Rockies Last 10: (3-7): W @ SD, L @ SD, L @ SD, L vs ATL, L vs ATL, L vs ATL, W vs LA, L vs LA, W vs LA, L vs NYM.

Fun Facts:

• The Dodgers lead the overall series against the Rockies by a margin of 175-131, including dropping two out of three games last week in Denver.
• Chris Capuano has tossed 18.2 consecutive scoreless innings. His secret? Properly mixing up his pitches, giving hitters a steady diet of balls and strikes. He posts a 1.42 ERA at home, not allowing a run since David Ross homered against him on April 23rd.
• Dodgers manager Don Mattingly has two more at-bats against Jamie Moyer than all but two current Dodger batters. Moyers owns a 0-2 record with a 10.26 ERA since last defeating them in 2000.

Keys to a Dodger Victory:

- Some Things Never Change
Jamie Moyer absolutely loathes opposing the Dodgers, knowing full well that they always show up against him. The soft tossing lefty has allowed four home runs to Dodger batters, two of which have numbers that greatly stand out. James Loney is 3-for-7 with a home run and five RBIs, a team-lead against Jamie. MVP-candidate Matt Kemp also enjoys success, hitting 3-for-7 with a homer and three RBIs. While still a sample size, the Dodgers should marvel at the many soft tosses they will receive.

- Chris Has to Keep Leading the Way
By now the league is on to the hot start of Chris Capuano. Can he continue to fool them? Absolutely. The Rockies are beaten, and could be had if jumped at properly. They just scored nine runs in three games against the Padres, with six coming in their sole victory. A continuance of this performance can lead to desperate swings which will make things easier for Capuano. Chris is allowing three less hits per line this season, and half as many home runs, this compared to last year. His K/9 of 8.8 is the highest of his career. At just 33-years-old, this southpaw has much left to offer.

- Beat the West
I can go on and on about shutting down the division. This morning the Dodgers hold a 5.0 game lead over the Giants, and 6.5 against the Rockies and Diamondbacks. Arizona and San Francisco will beat each other up, while the Dodgers have a golden opportunity to open up a comfortable lead against it’s division counterparts halfway through May.

Best-Case Prediction: Dodgers 11, Rockies 1
Worst-Case: Rockies 4, Dodgers 3