Shohei Ohtani and Charlie Blackmon take center stage as the Dodgers face the Rockies

Shohei Ohtani will put the finishing touches on another likely MVP season, while Charlie Blackmon will wrap up his 14-year career on Sunday afternoon when the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies meet in Denver on the final day of the regular season.

Los Angeles will send left-hander Anthony Banda (3-2, 3.14 ERA) to the mound against Colorado right-hander Ryan Feltner (3-10, 4.66).

Banda has made three career appearances against Colorado and has a 13.50 ERA, while Feltner is 1-2 with a 7.36 ERA in five games against the Dodgers.

Los Angeles (97-64) had the best record in baseball before Saturday night's 13-2 victory over Colorado (61-100), thanks to the Philadelphia Phillies' loss to the Washington Nationals earlier in the day.

With no seeding worries, the focus will be on Ohtani, the favorite to win NL MVP who has an outside shot at the Triple Crown.

He leads the NL in home runs (54) and RBIs (130), but his .310 batting average trails San Diego's Luis Arraez (.314), who sat out Saturday's game against Arizona.

“It’s very unlikely,” manager Dave Roberts said of Ohtani winning the batting title. “I expect Arraez to play (on Sunday). We’ll see if Shohei can have another big day.”

Ohtani secured the fight for the batting title with a hot September. In the last nine games, he has gone 26 of 39 with six home runs, six doubles, 20 RBIs and nine stolen bases. He increased his average to .291 on September 1st.

Roberts said he noticed a change in Ohtani's approach after he hit 50 home runs earlier this month.

“I thought his goal was to hit .300 when he started hitting balls to left field for base hits,” Roberts said. “I see more intent to hit the ball flat rather than trying to lift the baseball.”

Ohtani, who may be the National League's first Triple Crown winner since 1937, could eclipse Blackmon's final game. The longest-tenured player currently on Colorado's roster – second only to only Hall of Famer Todd Helton – will be celebrated at the end of his career on Sunday.

He announced Monday that he was retiring, and that gave a new lease of life to his final days. In five games since the announcement, he is 7-of-19 with a home run and four RBIs. He was 1 for 4 Saturday night.

The 38-year-old Blackmon will retire near or at the top of several categories in franchise history. He is first in triples (68) and second in games (1,623), hits (1,804) and total bases (2,955), all behind Helton.

Colorado honored Blackmon throughout the weekend series and declared Sunday Charlie Blackmon Day.

“I don’t really understand the gravity of this yet,” said Blackmon, a four-time All-Star who won the 2017 NL title. “(Baseball) is pretty much all I know. I feel like I’ve never really worked in my life, but at the same time I work really hard.”

The Rockies have lost 100 games two years in a row after avoiding that distinction for the first 30 years of their existence.

“You don’t like it, you don’t like losing,” manager Bud Black said.

–Field level media