Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After ending their 12-game losing streak against the Dodgers last night, the Rockies have now started a winning streak against them with a 5-3 victory tonight.
The Dodgers are now 2-4 in their last six games. Time to panic or whatever.
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In the 1st, the Dodgers got the scoring started against Jon Gray behind an Alex Verdugo single and a Cody Bellinger double down the line in right that seemed to roll forever to make it 1-0.
Meanwhile, Clayton Kershaw shockingly got the first six Rockies in order, but the runs came in the 3rd after a single for the first hit he allowed and then a Charlie Blackmon homer to put the Dodgers in a 2-1 hole.
The Dodgers responded in the 4th in an unconventional way. Justin Turner started the inning by seemingly flying out to deep right-center field, and Ian Desmond certainly had a beat on it, but he just dropped the ball for a two-base error. Later, rookie Edwin Rios came up and smashed a triple to left-center field for his first MLB hit to tie the game at 2-2.
In the 5th, the Boys In Blue surged to take the lead. Austin Barnes walked, Kershaw sacrificed him into scoring position, and Joc Pederson singled to put runners at the corners. Verdugo took advantage by lining a single back up the middle to plate a run and secure a 3-2 lead.
That lead remained intact until the 6th, when the infield defense got sloppy as hell. With one out already recorded, Max Muncy let a routine grounder right at him get under his glove, and that was followed by two singles in a row to tie the game at 3-3.
A short hop then ate up Enrique Hernandez, and while it was smashed it was also a potential double-play ball, and those are the types of plays the Dodgers count on him to make. With the bases now loaded, a jam-shot single against the shift plated two more runs and the Rockies were up 5-3 all of a sudden before Kershaw was able to get out of it.
All things considered, Kershaw pitched quite well. He gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits in seven innings, but walked none and struck out seven. The line doesn’t do him justice, as six of the hits were singles and the defense behind him was shoddy.
Pedro Baez finished things off for the staff, issuing a walk but getting a strikeout with his scoreless frame.
Unfortunately, that three-run 6th against Kershaw proved fatal to any hope the Dodgers had of winning the game, as Gray and the Rockies pen shut the door on the offense the rest of the way. They totaled just eight hits (two for extra bases) and two walks, which isn’t going to do it at Coors.
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The Dodgers fall to 56-29 on the year, which is down to a 107-win pace. They now lead the Rockies by 11 games in the NL West, the Braves by 5.5 games in the NL, and the Yankees by 1 game in the MLB.
The four-game series will conclude tomorrow afternoon at 9:10 AM HST/12:10 PM PST/3:10 PM EST. Kenta Maeda will face off against Chi Chi Gonzalez, two pitchers who I would provide statistics for, but again they likely aren’t relevant for this park.
