Dodgers 7, Rockies 6: Lineup provides early support again and the pen hangs on for the series win

Chad Moriyama 08/18/2026 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

After getting the series off to a rather idyllic start yesterday, especially by Coors Field standards, this was much more of a standard affair. A tense game with a bunch of scoring chances and back-and-forth between the two teams, it was thankfully the Dodgers who took the lead and then the pen hung on for a 7-6 victory to take the series.

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Eric Lauer and Ryan Feltner engaged in a Coors version of a pitchers’ duel, where both sides exchanging giving up a bunch of runs.

It was Feltner’s turn first, as back-to-back singles from Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages cornered the runners, and a Max Muncy pop foul down the line resulted in a nice catch by Willi Castro but also allowed Freeman to tag and score to make it 1-0 Dodgers.

The Rockies got it right back against Lauer, as they started with a single and a steal, then Cole Carrigg doubled to tie things up at 1-1.

Carrigg also helped Lauer minimize the damage when he ran into an out on a grounder to short, and the Rockies ended up getting nothing more.

Feltner then got a clean 2nd and Lauer allowed just a two-out infield single in his 2nd, but fireworks weren’t far off. After Feltner walked Hunter Feduccia to start the 3rd, Shohei Ohtani crushed a first-pitch curve for his 30th homer to make it 3-1 Dodgers just like that.

After a Freddie Freeman walk followed, he stole second and got to third with one out when the ball got through to center, but the Dodgers couldn’t capitalized on that chance.

That would immediately haunt them, as Lauer issued a brutal two-out walk, which was followed by a double from TJ Rumfield to score a run, and then Connor Norby doubled himself to tie the game up at 3-3 to end the 3rd.

But as frequently happens in Coors, the Dodgers came right back in the 4th, as back-to-back-to-back doubles against Feltner started the inning via Tommy Edman, Kyle Tucker, and Teoscar Hernandez, the latter two scoring a pair of runs to make it 5-3.

After Feduccia drew another walk to put a pair on, Ohtani grounded out sharply but beat out a double-play attempt, which allowed Freddie Freeman’s deep flyball to center to score Teoscar and make it 6-3.

Then in something of a miracle, Lauer got a Shutdown Inning in the 4th, a clean frame to end that inning.

But after the Dodgers couldn’t do anything with a two-out double in the 5th, the Rockies did it the easy way in their half when Willi Castro hit a two-out homer to make it 6-4 Dodgers.

In a bit of a surprise, that’s where Lauer’s night ended: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 87 Pitches.

I mean, I’ll take it.

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The Dodgers did end up getting that back immediately, as Feltner’s only pitch of the 6th was crushed to center by Teoscar for a triple. Parker Mushinski then entered, getting a shallow flyout to start, then getting a weird play where Shohei hit a ball off Norby for an error but it bounced right to Ezequiel Tovar at short to keep Teoscar at third. Freddie thankfully followed by blooping a ball into left to restore the three-run lead at 7-4, as that’s all the Dodgers would get.

The Rockies pen was very impressive, as Jimmy Herget and Zach Agnos followed with clean frames, and then Jordan Romano gave up just a two-out single before closing the book on the Dodgers.

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So, four innings to cover with a lead for the pen.

In relief of Lauer was Jack Dreyer in the 6th, issuing just a two-out walk and striking out a pair in a scoreless frame. The broadcast also talked about his velocity increase, which was brain-induced, apparently.

Edgardo Henriquez followed that with a 1-2-3 frame in the 7th, and the pen looked to be cruising.

Things were unfortunately not that easy for Evan Phillips in the 8th, as a lead-off walk was followed by a single and then another single from Zac Veen to plate a run and make it 7-5 Dodgers with two on and nobody out.

Phillips did lock in a bit after that, getting a routine flyout and a strikeout before giving way to Tanner Scott, who induced a scary-looking check-swing groundout to escape that jam.

In the 9th, Scott got the first out, but then gave up a double to put the tying-run on. He bounced back by getting a groundout, but then gave up a groundball single to Castro to make it 7-6 Dodgers and put the tying run on base.

Thankfully, he got the final out to secure thte save and the win.

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Hope Feduccia is alright.

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NL SeedingRecordGB
Brewers78-48–
Dodgers76-512.5
Braves74-524.0

The series will conclude tomorrow at the same time of 2:40 PM HT/5:40 PM PT/8:40 PM ET with Roki Sasaki on the bump following his late arrival to team in order to avoid altitude effects up against the struggling Kyle Freeland.

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