Roger Arrieta
DENVER—When is a game at Coors Field not a game at Coors Field? When it lasts only 2 hours and 32 minutes and Clayton Kershaw is pitching. Kershaw limited the Rockies to one run and four hits in 7.0 innings and Chris Taylor drove in three runs to propel the Dodgers to a 6-1 win over Colorado on Saturday.
The win is the third straight over the Rox in the series and gives Los Angeles a 38-15 record for the season. The victory, coupled with a loss by San Diego, drops the Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the NL West Division to 2.
GAME RECAP: For the second consecutive night the Dodgers never trailed against the Rockies. They grabbed a 2-1 lead in the first and then added a single run in the fourth and three more in the seventh to come away with the 5-run win. Kershaw was the story on defense as he faced the minimum number of batters after the first when he allowed the only Rox run of the game. The offensive story centered around 2-out rallies and leadoff homers.
Los Angeles took an early 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of hits and a walk after there were two outs in the first. Justin Turner started the rally with a bloop single to left. Cody Bellinger earned a 5-pitch walk and then Taylor tripled into the corner in right field. The Rockies would get their only run when Raimel Tapia leadoff the game with the dreaded “seeing-eye” double up the middle. He then stole third and came home on a ground out from Nelson Arenado.
Taylor took back the 2-run lead when he clouted the longest homer of his career to start the fourth inning. He ambushed the first pitch of the at-bat and sent it 446 feet to dead center. It was Taylor’s seventh homer of the season and 58th of his career. A.J. Pollock duplicated Taylor’s leadoff HR when he went yard to start the seventh. He hit a typical Pollock, opposite field special when he connected on a 1-0 fastball and dropped it into the first row of seats in right field.
The last two runs of the game came with two outs in the seventh and were created with only an infield single. Barnes got beaned for the second straight night to start the odd scoring spree. He stole second and went to third on Mookie Bett’s slow-rolling single that barely made it past the mound on the first-base side. Barnes would score on a wild pitch that looked easy enough after it got behind catcher Drew Butera but turned into a 3-player, pile-up at the plate. Barnes broke for home as the ball ricocheted off the brick wall behind the plate and right back to Butera. Rockies pitcher Mychal Givens sprinted toward home and slid toward the plate expecting Butera to relay the ball to get the out. Butera didn’t think he could get a diving Barnes with a throw so he dove head first towards home as well. The three players collided at the plate at the same time with Barnes getting his left hand down on home before Butera could make the tag. The wild pitch also moved Betts up to second base. He would score on an error on a pickoff throw in the very next at-bat. Givens’ errant pickoff attempt went into center field which allowed Betts to get up and sprint towards third. When center fielder Kevin Pillar didn’t make a forceful throw into the infield, Betts didn’t break stride and sprinted towards home. Trevor Story caught the weak relay throw and by the time he was able to throw the ball home, Betts had already slid across the plate for the Dodgers’ sixth run of the game.
HE SAID IT: “That’s as good a play as you’ll ever see. What a heads-up play.”—Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts on the play that Betts scored on from second base.
HE SAID IT 2: “It just sends a message to everybody that every play matters. It’s how you play the game. From McKinstry to Lux to Ríos it just sends a message to all those guys. We are lucky to have him.”—Roberts when asked what type of message Betts’ play in the seventh, when LA was already up 5-1, sends to the rest of the team especially the young players.”
MAGIC NUMBER: The Dodgers’ “magic” number to clinch their eighth straight NL West title is now at 2. LA could win the division on Sunday with a victory over the Rox and a loss by the Padres against Seattle.
IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY: Los Angeles would host Cincinnati in the first round of the 16-team MLB playoffs. The Reds are clinging to the final spot in the NL. They lost on Saturday against the White Sox and are one game under .500 at 26-27. Milwaukee and San Francisco are also one game under the .500 mark but the Reds own the tiebreaker.
HE SAID IT 3: “Every day you look at it and it’s a different team. Once the postseason starts we’ll be ready for whoever it is.”—Clayton Kershaw when asked if he watches the race for the final playoff spots in the NL.
OBSCURE STATS OF THE NIGHT: The Dodgers are now 9-0 when Turner is slotted into the lineup as the designated hitter. The game time of 2:32 was the quickest of the season for the Dodgers. The previous best was 2:35 which also came against the Rox on Aug. 21.
REESE’S PEANUT BUTTER CUPS FOR EVERYONE: Los Angeles has now won five straight games which marks the third time this season they have put together a 5-game “W” string. The Dodgers have a winning percentage of .717 (which is the area code for Hershey, Pa. – home of the Hershey candy company). That winning percentage would put them on pace for 116 wins in a regular 162-game season. And what is the MLB record for most wins in a season? Why that would be 116 set by the Mariners in 2001. Go ahead and open that pack of Hershey’s Kisses as you enjoy a record-setting win pace.
LUCKY 13: Make it 13 series wins for the Dodgers in 2020. The victory on Saturday ensures Los Angeles of the series win in Colorado which improves the team’s record in series this year to 13-1-4. The series win avenges the lone blemish on the year for LA as they dropped a 3-game series to the Rox on Sept. 4-6.
WHIPPING UP ON THE WEST: Los Angeles is now 27-12 (.692) against the other teams in the NL West this year. They have at least six wins against every other division opponent. They went 8-2 against the Diamondbacks which is the most wins against an NL West team and could tie that mark against the Rockies with a win on Sunday. LA is 85-59 against Colorado since they started their NL West crown streak in 2013.
4TH OF JULY FIREWORKS: Kershaw’s 7.0 innings with only one earned run and four hits allowed was his best outing at Coors Field since his Cy Young season of 2014. In that memorable campaign, Kershaw went 8.0 scoreless innings and only allowed two hits while striking out eight in the Los Angeles’ 9-0 win on the 4th of July. Kershaw has found a different level in 2020. He is now 6-2 with a 2.15 ERA and a 0.752 WHIP. He has gone 7.0 innings on three occasions this year and has come away with a decision in eight of the 10 games he has pitched. LA is 8-2 when Kershaw climbs the mound for a start in 2020.
HE SAID IT 4: “We won. It feels good to pitch well here and get a win. I felt like my curve ball was better than the last time.”—Kershaw on his outing.
THE .280 GANG: Taylor went 2-for-3 with 3 RBI and a run scored on Saturday and has gone 7-for-23 (.304) in the six games on the current road trip. Taylor is now hitting .283 for the year which gives the Dodgers five players with an average above .280. Pollock is close to making it six as he has a .276 BA.
TAYLOR MADE: Taylor has been tearing it up in the box in the month of September. He has a slash line of .339/.414/.710 in the 16 games this month. Oh, for good measure – he’s only made two errors all season in 113 chances while playing four different defensive positions.
HE SAID IT 5: “His ability to compete every single day at whatever he does. He is so valuable to our ball club. He is so unselfish and just wants to play.”—Roberts on the play of Taylor.
HE SAID IT 6: “CT is unbelievable too. He’s playing great defense wherever he plays. We need that guy. A guy that grinds it out.”—Kershaw on Taylor.
THE .303 CLUB: Both Turner and Betts extended their on-base streaks on Saturday. Turner was 2-for-3 and has now reached safely in 25 games. Betts needed to go to his final at-bat to get aboard. His infield singled upped his streak to 19 games. Turner raised his average above the .300 mark to .303 which ties Betts.
THE FINAL WORD: “There’s not a lot of bad things you can say about Mookie. You saw it tonight. There’s a reason Andrew (Dodgers’ President Andrew Friedman) gave him 12 years. It’s going to be fun to watch.”—Kershaw on Betts.
ON DECK: The Dodgers will go for their fifth sweep of the season when they close out the 4-game series in Colorado on Sunday at 12:10 p.m. Tony Gonsolin, the newest “official” member of the LA rotation, will claw his way to the mound for his seventh start of the year. He is 1-1 and has a tidy 1.51 ERA with a 0.785 WHIP. The series finale will be his second start against the Rox this month. He went 6.0 innings and allowed one earned run and three hits in a no decision on Sept. 5. Gonsolin has pitched 4.0 innings in Coors Field in his career and has allowed one run and three hits while striking out three. LA will face the best pitcher on the Colorado staff. Antonio Senzatela will be making his 10th start of the year and third against the Dodgers. He is 4-2 with a 3.30 ERA and a 1.149 WHIP. Senzatela is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.406 WHIP in his two starts against Los Angeles. He lasted 5.1 innings in both his outings at Dodger Stadium.
Well, what happened? New day, new team? Pitching looked good for the most part but the team didn’t put up any runs until the later innings, too little too late. It’s good to feel good about yourself when things are going well but I like being humble for the good deeds I do. Guys become braggarts, big-headed then things go south for whatever reasons then the manager has to make excuses. Who was out of the lineup today and why? Would it have made a difference? This is what managers and coaches are getting paid for, to make the right lineup for a win. I mentioned the Dodgers just coasting after a certain point and I didn’t want them to do that, well today it looked like they coasted. They need to get back on track and give the other teams all they got.