After concluding a nine-game road trip Wednesday, going 4-5, the Colorado Rockies head home for a nine-game home stand; starting tonight versus the Cincinnati Reds.

The Rockies come into Friday’s opener 26-24, first in the NL West. The Reds are coming off of a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates, taking two out of three. Even with those wins, Cincinnati currently sits dead-last in the NL Central at 18-33.

And even with that losing record, the Reds are still 7-2 in their last nine games versus the NL West and 6-2 in their last eight road games. Meanwhile, Colorado is 1-4 in their last five home games, with an overall home record of 7-11. Simply, the Rockies must turn things around at home quickly before it gets to late.

The series’ pitching matchups will look like this:

Friday: Jon Gray (4-6) vs. Sal Romano (2-5), first pitch at 6:40 p.m. MT.

Saturday: Tyler Anderson (3-1) vs. Tyler Mahle (3-6), first pitch at 7:10 p.m. MT.

Sunday: German Marquez (3-5) vs. Matt Harvey (1-2), first pitch at 1:10 p.m. MT.

Cincinnati’s pitching staff has allowed 5.1 runs per game and its starters own a 5.48 ERA. Colorado’s offense should be licking at their chops for this upcoming matchup, but, it’s hard to be too confident when batting .228 as a team.

A majority of the Reds offense this year has come from second baseman Scooter Gennett, who is currently raking with a .321 AVG, 9 HR and 34 RBI. If the Rockies can contain Gennett, they should have no problem shutting down this Reds offense.

The Reds have been awful this year on the whole, and Cincinnati’s pitching ranks just 25th in the Major Leagues. If there ever was a series where the Rockies offense can get back on track, it’s this one. Colorado has playoff aspirations, and they can’t afford to drop a series at home to this sorry Reds team.

The Rockies will have a chance to extend their lead in first place this weekend, before they host the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers, each from the NL West. This series against the Reds will be important for Colorado to hopefully gain some traction before they host two rivals in a row. The Rockies have skidded of late; winning just four out of their last ten, and losing four out of their last five.

If they want to stay in first place in the NL West, this is an absolute must-win series for Colorado.