Rockies  4    Dodgers  3

Colorado Rockies (91-68) at Los Angeles Dodgers (93-66), 10:10 p.m.

Sports Network | October 2, 2009

(Sports Network) - The National League West title will be decided on the regular season's final weekend, as the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers try to hold off the hard-charging Colorado Rockies in an important three-game series that begins tonight at Dodger Stadium.

Both clubs will take part in the upcoming postseason, with the Rockies punching their ticket with Thursday's 9-2 home victory over Milwaukee, but the division champion has yet to be crowned due to an untimely four-game losing streak by the Dodgers.

Los Angeles does hold a two-game edge on the Rockies for the top spot and needs to win just one of these three matchups to clinch the West.

The Dodgers' current slide, which was extended with Wednesday's 5-0 setback in San Diego, has also jeopardized the club's chances of gaining home-field advantage throughout the NL Playoffs. Los Angeles is just one game in front of NL East champion Philadelphia in the overall standings, with Central winner St. Louis another game behind the Phillies.

A lack of offense has plagued the Dodgers as of late, with Joe Torre's squad having mustered a mere two runs over their three most recent losses. Los Angeles could deliver only a single hit -- a first-inning single by Matt Kemp -- in Wednesday's shutout by the Padres.

"We certainly look forward to going home," said Torre, whose team lost six times in the nine-game road trip that concluded on Wednesday. "It was a bummer of a trip. Things haven't been good. We're in an interesting situation, but we certainly don't want to finish the season on a bum note. It doesn't help you going into the postseason."

Andre Ethier, the Dodgers' leader with 31 homers and 105 RBI for the season, particularly struggled on the trek. The outfielder collected just one hit in 29 at-bats over the course of those nine games.

Los Angeles may have a chance to break out of its offensive rut tonight, considering how Rockies scheduled starter Ubaldo Jimenez has fared against the Dodgers this year. The talented right-hander is 0-3 with a poor 7.77 earned run average over four starts in the season series, although he did pitch seven innings of two-run ball in a no-decision at Dodger Stadium back on June 29.

Jimenez hasn't been overly sharp as a whole lately. He's lost two of his last three starts and surrendered four runs over seven innings in Saturday's 6-3 defeat to St. Louis, although he did record seven strikeouts.

The native Dominican has put together an overall solid season, however, winning a career-best 14 games and posting a 3.52 ERA along with 188 strikeouts through 32 starts.

For his career, Jimenez is 4-3 with a 6.31 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) against Los Angeles.

Randy Wolf will try to sew up the division for the Dodgers and has been Torre's most consistent pitcher down the stretch. The veteran lefty has won six consecutive decisions and hasn't lost in 10 starts since a August 1 setback at Atlanta. He's also yielded two runs or fewer in seven of those outings.

Wolf pitched well again in a no-decision at Pittsburgh this past Saturday, allowing just a pair of runs and four hits over 6 1/3 innings. He beat the Rockies at Coors Field back on August 26, permitting only one run and five hits over a strong 7 1/3 frames.

The 33-year-old owns a 5-2 record along with a 4.05 ERA in 12 career starts against Colorado, and is 1-0 with a 2.79 ERA over three previous meetings with the Rockies this year.

Los Angeles has dominated the season series between these two playoff-bound foes, taking 12 of the 15 clashes thus far. The Rockies have lost in five of their six visits to Dodger Stadium in 2009.

Colorado will be coming in on a very high note after securing the second postseason berth in franchise history on Thursday. The 2007 NL champions have won four straight and eight of their last 11 games.

Aaron Cook (11-6) led the way in yesterday's romp, with the sinker specialist limiting the Brewers to one run and four hits over eight outstanding innings in his second start since returning from a five-week stint on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain. He also added two RBI by drawing a pair of bases-loaded walks at the plate.

Garrett Atkins finished 3-for-4 with three RBI for Colorado, while Brad Hawpe contributed a two-run homer to Thursday's victory.