Dodgers rolling as Rockies come to town for National League West showdown

Kenley Jansen can read a calendar. He offered the most distinct distillation of the Dodgers philosophy heading into this weekend’s series with Colorado. It’s June, Jansen reminded.

“It’s a long season, man,” Jansen said after his team won on Thursday for the seventh game in a row and the 13th time in 14 games. “I’m not getting caught up in all that excitement.”

Indeed, players like Justin Turner and Enrique Hernandez echoed the sentiment. The Dodgers harbor respect for the Rockies, who have emerged as a surprising contender for the National League West, but they will not place an excessive amount of importance in one weekend series before the All-Star break. The Dodgers understand how much baseball remains in the year.

Even so, it will be an intriguing series. The Dodgers outclassed the Mets during a four-game drubbing. The Rockies dropped two of three to Arizona and fell 1 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in the division race. The Dodgers shifted their rotation so their three most reliable starters will pitch.

Here are the matchups for this weekend:

Friday: LHP Kyle Freeland (8-4, 3.42 ERA) vs. LHP Alex Wood (7-0, 1.90 ERA)

Saturday: RHP Tyler Chatwood (6-7, 4.08 ERA) vs. LHP Clayton Kershaw (10-2, 2.61 ERA)

Sunday: RHP German Márquez (5-3, 3.92 ERA) vs. RHP Brandon McCarthy (6-3, 2.87 ERA)

“It’s going to be a fun weekend,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We’ve got the guys who’ve been the most consistent for us this year taking the mound. We expect those guys to go out there and do what they’ve done. The Rockies, they’re a good ball club. They’re a good ball club. We’re going to play good baseball.”

andy.mccullough@latimes.com

Twitter: @McCulloughTimes