The calendar may say August 21, but there is still a lot of baseball left for the Colorado Rockies in 2026. After being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers at home earlier this week, the Rockies are 50-77. Believe it or not, Colorado is still looking to avoid a fourth straight 100-loss season and they can play spoiler this weekend against the Cleveland Guardians.

What is the difference between the American and National Leagues in the playoff race? It's the wild-card races. The Guardians come into the series at 62-66, but they are just one game out of the third and final AL wild-card spot. They are also just 4.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox for first place in the AL Central. It's safe to say that both teams have a lot to play for this weekend in Denver.

Rockies Announce Probable Pitchers Against Guardians

Colorado winning 50 games in August is certainly a step in the right direction. Coming off a third straight 100-loss season and undergoing some big changes with Paul DePodesta taking over as president of baseball operations, things appear headed in the right direction. They look to bounce back against the Guardians and here are the pitching matchups.

• Friday: Joey Cantillo (9-7, 3.80 ERA) vs. Tanner Gordon (0-3, 5.55 ERA), 6:40 p.m. MDT
• Saturday: Tanner Bibee (4-13, 4.01 ERA) vs. Gabriel Hughes (0-4, 6.69 ERA), 6:10 MDT
• Sunday: Foster Griffin (14-4, 3.18 ERA) vs. Tomoyuki Sugano (12-6, 4.70 ERA), 1:10 p.m. MDT

The best matchup is on Sunday in the series final. Foster Griffin was a big pickup for the Guardians at the trade deadline from the Washington Nationals. Since arriving in Cleveland, he is 2-1 with a 4.20 ERA in three starts over 15 innings with 15 strikeouts. This will be the first time this season that Griffin will face Colorado.

As for Sugano, he has been the best veteran pitcher who DePodesta brought over the offseason. Michael Lorenzen was designated for assignment earlier this week and Jose Quintana has been injured. He will be looking for win No. 13 for the second time after coming up short on Monday night against the Dodgers at home. August hasn't been too kind to Sugano, who has a 6.19 ERA in 16 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks and Dodgers.

Cleveland has struggled since the All-Star break and won a series for the first time since the first series after the break by taking two out of three games over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday. Colorado will look to be a bump in the Guardians' path to postseason baseball by winning a series at home.