Roger Arrieta
COLORADO—The team with the best away record in baseball who also owns the most home runs in the majors opened a 4-game series at Coors Field and the outcome was very predictable. The Dodgers hit a pair of long balls and scored nine consecutive runs to pull away for a 9-3 win over Colorado on Thursday.
The offense needed six innings to get warmed up to the Mile High atmosphere. Starting pitcher Julio Urías made sure LA would stay close when the bats woke up. Urías allowed only three hits in his 5.2 innings of work and retired 15 of the final 16 batters he faced. The LA offense then put up a 6-pack in the seventh to blow the game open.
The win is the third straight for the Dodgers and lowers their “magic” number for clinching their eighth NL West crown to 4.5. Los Angeles improves its league-leading record to 36-15. The Rockies lose for the seventh time in the last nine game and continue to see their playoffs hopes dwindle with each game. Colorado is 22-27 in all games and 11-16 at home.
GAME RECAP: The Dodgers started the game like they had been out all night celebrating their playoff-clinching win on Wednesday. The Rox tagged Urías for two runs in the first and LA didn’t get its first hit until there were two outs in the third. The Dodgers shook off their playoff hangover and rattled off nine straight runs starting in the fourth inning. The 9-run string was started by Corey Seager who is the team’s leading hitter and continues to produce quality at bat after quality at bat. Seager led off the fourth with a 424-foot shot to right field. LA would tie the game when Kiké Hernández got beaned in the left elbow with the bases loaded after Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger singled and Chris Taylor coaxed a 5-pitch walk.
Neither team was able to come up with a hit in the fifth or sixth innings and then the Dodgers busted the game wide open with six runs on four hits in the seventh. LA sent 10 hitters to the plate in the inning which was highlighted by a 2-RBI double from Will Smith. Betts put the Dodgers up 3-2 when he singled home Hernández after Hernández hit a 1-out double that banged off the wall in right center. Seager picked up his second RBI of the night when he crushed a ball that hit off the base of the wall in dead center. His 12th double of the year sent Edwin Ríos to third after Ríos walked before the Betts single. Betts would score on a wild pitch and then Max Muncy was able to get aboard with a 2-out walk. Smithtember continued in the next at bat when Smith pulled a ball just inside the left-field line that allowed Seager and Muncy to score. Smith finished off the 6-pack when he came home on a passed ball on ball No.4 to Chris Taylor.
Ríos launched a solo shot deep into the right field stands in the eighth to up the lead to 9-2 and then Trevor Story closed out the score line with a solo homer of his own in the bottom of the inning.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
SERIES STUFF: The Dodgers are now 5-2 against the Rockies this year. Last night’s game was the first away from Chavez Ravine for the two teams. LA is now 20-6 overall against Colorado in the past two years combined. The Dodgers are also 8-3 at Coors Field in 2019 and 2020. Los Angeles continues to dominate NL West opponents and has a 25-12 record against the division this year.
HUGE FANS OF WILLIE NELSON: The win in Colorado was the Dodgers’ 20th away win of the year. That is the top mark in MLB. LA is now 20-7 away from Dodger Stadium. To put that into perspective – the 20 away wins are more than Boston, Texas, Washington, Pittsburgh and Arizona have in the total season.
OBSCURE STATS OF THE NIGHT or VAYA CON RÍOS: The Dodgers are 2-0 when Ríos is in the No.9 spot in the batting order and 8-2 when he starts at third base.
6-PACK OF COORS: The six runs posted by the Dodgers in the seventh was the most in any inning this year. LA had put up a 5-spot in six different innings this season. The Dodgers are 7-0 when they score at least five runs in an inning in a game.
MAKING A CASE: Urías came up with his second straight strong start and is making a case to be in the rotation for the playoffs. He didn’t allow a hit after the first innings. Urías had retired 13 consecutive batters heading into the sixth inning before Raimel Tapia reached on an error. He proceeded to get Story to fly out to right and Charlie Blackmon to ground into a fielder’s choice before he was pulled after making 77 pitches. Urías has now gone 11.2 innings in his last two starts, allowed six hits and three earned runs. He has a 2.38 ERA in those games with a 0.882 WHIP.
MY KINGDOM FOR A TRIPLE: Seager was a triple shy of becoming the first LA player to hit for a cycle since Bellinger did it back on July 15, 2017. Seager finished the game by going 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI. It was his team-leading 18th multi-hit game of the year. His solo shot in the fourth was his 13th long ball of the season. Seager now owns a .309 average and a .959 OPS.
RED TURN 24: Turner also had a multiple-hit game which extended his on-base streak to 24 games. The last time he failed to get on base was on Aug. 3 against San Diego. Turner went 2-for-5 in the series opener and is now batting .295 for the year.
WELCOME TO THE BIGS: Zach McKinstry’s major league debut on Thursday isn’t one he’ll likely brag about to the grandkids. McKinstry entered the game as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning and promptly grounded into a 3-6-3 double play. He did get to stay in the game and played errorless ball at second base in the bottom of the inning.
CLUTCH HITTING KEYS WIN STREAK: The key to the Dodgers modest 3-game win streak has been their ability to come through with runners in scoring position. LA hit .167 (4-for-24) in losing three of four before the last three games. Since their series-opening loss at San Diego, the Dodgers have hit .450 (9-for-20) with runners in scoring position.
CLUTCH CREW: Los Angeles leads the majors in hitting with two outs and runners in scoring position. The Dodgers have an impressive .302 average when there are two outs in an inning and there are runners on second or third. LA is hitting .285 this season overall with RISP which is second best in MLB.
THERE IS A REASON TO THAT MADNESS: The reason behind the Dodgers’ MLB lead in hitting with two outs and runners in scoring position? Betts and Seager are both in the Top 4 in that category. Betts leads all players with a ridiculous .524 average and Seager is tied for fourth at .444. Not a bad 1-2 combo at the top of the lineup.
ON DECK: The Dodgers will look to lower their “magic” number when they face the Rox in Game 2 of the series on Friday at 5:10 p.m. It looks to be another “bullpen” game for Los Angeles as lefty Alex Wood will get the start. Wood, who has been coming out of the bullpen in his last five appearances has a 4.32 ERA with a 1.560 WHIP in 8.1 innings pitched this year. He gave up three runs in 3.0 innings in his only other start of the year which came on July 25 against the Giants. Wood is not a fan of Coors Field. He owns a 9.75 ERA and a 2.000 WHIP in his 24.0 innings pitched in Colorado. Wood will be hoping the offense can score enough runs off of righty Ryan Castellani who is 1-2 with a 4.46 ERA this year. Castellani faced the Dodgers earlier this month and went 4.1 innings and gave up four runs and six hits in a 7-6 win.
