Jim Cella
LOS ANGELES—If it’s a home game against Colorado, the chances are very good that it will end with a Dodger walkoff win. Cody Bellinger’s line drive home run on a 1-0 slider to lead off the bottom of the ninth barely cleared the right field wall but it still gave Los Angeles the 4-3 win over Colorado. It is the fifth walkoff win in the last 14 home games against the Rockies.
The victory was also the Dodger’s MLB-leading 11th comeback win of the season as they were trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. Los Angeles has now won 10 of its last 11 games and ups its major league-leading record to 21-8 on the year. Colorado loses for the sixth straight game and is below .500 for the first time since the opening game of the year. The Rox are 13-14 after starting the year 11-3.
GAME RECAP: It didn’t look like the Dodgers would need a walkoff homer to win the game after the first two innings. LA posted single runs in both of the opening frames and had three hits in eight plate appearances. Mookie Betts started the scoring when he hustled home from first base after a Corey Seager single to left field. Betts raced to third on the single in which the throw from leftfielder Raimel Tapia was late in getting to the base. Nolan Arenado collected the ball and tried to get Seager on the wide turn at first. Betts seized the opportunity to get up after his slide and sprint home to give LA a 1-0 lead. Chris Taylor doubled the margin when he got a hold of the eighth pitch of his at-bat in the second inning and watched it carry over the right field fence for an opposite field HR.
The Dodgers’ offense would then wilt in the humidity until the seventh inning. Colorado lefty starter Kyle Freeland shook off the early-inning stumble and proceeded to retire 12 straight LA hitters. During that 4-inning, no-hit stretch he watched his offense grab a 3-2 lead. The Rockies were able to scratch out single runs in the third, sixth and seventh to take their first lead of the series. Sam Hilliard was responsible for the only run off of Dodgers’ starter Dustin May when he hit a solo shot in the third. Colorado tied the game with an infield single, ground out and sacrifice fly in the sixth off of reliever Brusdar Graterol. They took the 1-run lead in the seventh when Ryan McMahon scored on a wild pitch from Blake Treinen on ball 4 against former Dodger fan favorite Matt Kemp.
Los Angeles tied the game in the “bounce back” inning in the bottom of the seventh. Justin Turner was beaned in the left hamstring to lead off the frame. He moved up to third when AJ Pollock turned on a 1-2 fastball and lined it down the left-field line. Max Muncy coaxed a 6-pitch walk to load the bases and then Turner scored on the next at-bat when Taylor pummeled a ground ball that the Colorado defense turned into a 4-6-3 double play.
The Rockies had a chance to take the lead in the top of the eighth inning but the LA defense came through with a huge run-scoring play. Trevor Story led off with a double into the left-center gap and then advanced to third on a ground out from Charlie Blackmon. Arenado followed with a ground ball that deflected off of Muncy’s glove who at third as part of a drawn-in infield. The ball caromed right to Seager at short who then threw home to stop Story’s progress from getting to the plate. Treinen would eventually tag out Story on the 5-6-2-5-1 putout.
The Rockies also threatened in the ninth when they put their leadoff hitter on base after reliever Caleb Ferguson fumbled a throw from Bellinger on a ground ball to first base. Ferguson would retire the next two batters and then Kenley Jansen was brought on for the final out. Jansen would get his first win of the year when Bellinger hit the 1-0 pitch over the right field wall. Bellinger lost sight of the ball coming off the bat and had no idea where it ended up. He had to be notified by the first base umpire that it went over the wall.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
HE SAID IT: “I thought I hit it up in the air. It was weird. I thought he caught the ball. I had no idea what was going on.”—Cody Bellinger on his confusion after hitting the walkoff homer.
HE SAID IT 2: “It was weird. It felt like a WII sports game. Just throwing your arms up and down in the air.”—Cody Bellinger on the ‘social distancing’ celebration after the walkoff.
HE SAID IT 3: “It was freakin’ exciting.”—Los Angeles starter Dustin May on the walkoff homer which he watched from the locker room.
HE SAID IT 4: “That was a weird one. It was a top-spin line drive. It was awkward after the ball went out I was yelling ‘social distance’. It was really awkward without the fans.”—Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts on the walkoff homer.
MAKE MINE A 7-UP: The “W” on Saturday gives the Dodgers the win for the 3-game series against the Rox. The victory also keeps Los Angeles’ unbeaten series streak intact. LA is 7-0-2 in series this season.
OBSCURE STATS OF THE NIGHT: The victory was the Dodgers fourth of the season in their last at-bat. LA is now 19-4 when they score at least four runs in a game.
SORRY, NO SOCIAL MEDIA TONIGHT: None of May’s pitches from his sixth start of the season will be featured on ESPN or Pitching Ninja but he kept the Dodgers in the game for his full 5.0 innings and 81 pitches. May only allowed two hits and one run but couldn’t post a third, 11-strikeout start after Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler performed the feat on Thursday and Friday. May only fanned a single in his non-highlight outing but it continued his streak of starts of not allowing more than two runs in a game. He hasn’t given up more than two runs in any of his six starts this year. May also lowered his season ERA back under 3.00. He is now at the 2.95 mark with a 1.170 WHIP in his 29.0 innings this year.
HE SAID IT 5: “Dustin didn’t have his best stuff, but still kept those guys (Colorado) at bay.”—Roberts on May’s outing.
PITCHING STUFF: One of the areas the Dodgers’ pitching staff has excelled in all season is bearing down with runners in scoring position. The six LA pitchers on Saturday held the Rockies hitless in their nine at-bats with runners in scoring position. The Dodgers lead the majors in that stat category as opposing batters are only hitting .197 when they have a chance to drive home a run.
HITTING STUFF: The Dodgers outhit the Rockies 5-4 in the game. LA didn’t have a player with a multiple-hit game and the Top 6 in the lineup collected all five hits. It is only the second time in the month of August (20 games) that the Dodgers’ have been held under six hits.
DEFENSE STUFF: The Dodgers committed two errors on Saturday which marks the second time in the last four games they have had more than one miscue. LA only made six errors in its first 21 games and has had eight in the past eight games.
INJURY STUFF: Justin Turner, who was beaned in the left hamstring in the seventh inning, will get treatment on Sunday to see if there is any further damage. Turner stayed in the game and walked in his at-bat in the eighth.
HE SAID IT 6: “He took a ball off the hamstring. It swelled up after the game. He’ll get treatment and we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”—Roberts on Turner’s status for the game on Sunday.
ON DECK: The teams will finish off the 3-game series on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. Ross Stripling will look to get back on track after struggling in his last three outings. He hasn’t lasted more than 5.2 innings in his last four outings and has seen his season ERA balloon to 5.61 and his WHIP jump to 1.325. The good news for Stripling is that he has fared well against the Rox in his career. He is 1-1 with a 2.43 ERA in his 33.1 innings of work against Colorado. The Rockies’ hopes to avoid the sweep fall on the right arm of Antonio Senzatela. He leads the Colorado starters with a 3-0 record and a 2.90 ERA. Senzatela is 2-2 with a 6.39 ERA in his 25.1 innings pitched against LA. It gets worse for Senzatela as he is 0-2 with a 6.91 ERA in his three starts at Chavez Ravine.
