Steve Webb
Game 20, 4/16/2025: Dodgers 8, Rockies 7
CHAVEZ RAVINE — Dodger fans, here’s a tip. When this lineup has Shohei, Mookie, and Freddie at the top of the order, it behooves you to get your butt in your seat by first pitch. Case in point: Wednesday’s finale against the Rockies. The Dodgers went MEDIEVAL on Colorado pitching from the get-go, scoring seven runs in the first and then holding off the surging Rox for a 8-7 win and a series sweep.
Bobby Miller was hoping to set a tone in the top of the first, and it turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag. The good: he struck out three Rockies. The bad: mixed in among the K’s were three hits, which resulted in one Colorado run. The big blow of the inning was a two-out double from old friend Kyle Farmer, who had basically been the only Rockie to hit this road trip.
Thankfully, the lead did not last long. Shohei Ohtani, who has been struggling a skosh at the plate lately, totatlly PULVERIZED a pitch from veteran righty German Marquez to tie up the score almost immediately. He took a two-strike knuckle-curve and buried it 427 feet from home plate in the right field pavilion. After a Mookie Betts strikeout, Freddie Freeman put the Dodgers on top with a bomb of his own, a 409-foot jack in the same direction as Ohtani’s blast. They were the 32nd and 33rd homers of the year for the Dodgers, putting them on top of the MLB leaderboard in that stat.
Michael Conforto followed up the homers with an infield hit and Tommy Edman was HBP (sorry, Korean Heritage fans!) and Max Muncy walked to start another little rally with two outs. Andy Pages, who is starting to show a pulse at the plate, came through with a single to left to score two and just like that it was 4-1 Dodgers. Then, Austin Barnes (Yes, THAT Austin Barnes) ripped a double into the left field corner to score two more. Having batted around, Shohei was back up to bat, and brought Marquez’s evening to a merciful end with a run scoring single. It was a seven-run first inning. Hooboy!
In fact, all those runs turned out to be necessary because after a scoreless second, Miller got absolutely shellacked in the third, giving back five runs to the Rockies on a couple of long balls–a Michael Toglia grand slam and a solo shot from former Angel Mickey Moniak. Suddenly it was only 7-6 Dodgers and the laugher wasn’t looking that funny anymore. Miller’s night was done after three, and it wasn’t great. He did get seven strikeouts in 84 pitches, but the rest of the statline was not pretty: 3.0 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 1 BB. 7 K. If that was Miller’s audition, he best not expect a callback.
So it was up to the bullpen to lock things down in this one. Things got off to a good start when Anthony Banda threw a scoreless fourth. Ben Casparius was next out of the gate, hoping to make amends for that ugly night against the Cubbies last weekend. Things went well for him in the fifth; he pitched a 1-2-3 frame.
In the bottom of the inning, the Dodgers put some distance between themselves and the Rockies. Max Muncy hit the ball on the screws three or four times in his at-bat, finally settling for a single. Then, after taking second on a wild pitch, he came home to score when Andy Pages notched his second hit of the night, a run-scoring single to left.
Casparius came back out in the sixth and retired the Colorado hitters 1-2-3 again. And, having thrown only twenty pitches, he was sent out again in the seventh. Things were less comfortable in the seventh, as he gave up a single to Nick Martini and a double to Ryan McMahon to put runners at second and third with just one out. Kyle Farmer drove in one run on an infield out to make it an 8-7 ballgame, but Casparius was able to get DH Hunter Goodman to fly out to end the threat and limit the damage. Nice length out of Casparius in this one, and a good bounceback.
Alex Vesia got the eighth, and was tasked with retiring the Rockies’ two home run hitters of the night Michael Toglia and Mickey Moniak. He got Toglia looking for the first out of the frame, and then got Moniak to bounce to Freddie Freeman at first. A strikeout of Braxton Fulford finished up a perfect inning for the fiery Vesia. Three more outs to go.
Tanner Scott got the call in the ninth and other than a two-out single, he locked things down. Ball Game. Dodgers finish their first 20 games with an impressive 14-6 mark. They trail the Padres still in the division, but there’s a whole lot of baseball between here and October.
Finishing the homestand at 4-2, the Dodgers head to deep in the heart of Texas for the next series, returning to Globe Life Field, home of happy 2020 memories. The Rangers are playing good ball this year, sitting atop the AL West at 11-7. As usual this season, the Friday start will go to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, followed by Sasaki and Glasnow on Saturday and Sunday. As of this writing, the Rangers’ rotation is still in flux for the weekend, but with those three throwing for the boys in blue, I’m feeling another series win. Game time on Friday is 5:05 PDT. Let’s go, Dodgers!
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