Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — It was only fitting on the night that the Dodgers retired #34 in honor of legend Fernando Valenzuela that the team would get a nails pitching performance from its starter. And while nobody will confuse Lynn with Fernando, it was pretty darn cool just the same. Lynn only went five innings (something unheard of in Fernando’s day), but the bullpen was just as strong afterward, holding the Colorado Rockies to just one unearned run. The offense did the rest and the Dodgers won their sixth in a row, besting the Rox by a score of 6-1.
“We’re taking care of business,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts after the game. “There’s a lot of playoff teams still in it and they’re kind of duking it out, jockeying for position. And because we’re winning baseball games, there’s certainly some more separation.”
Indeed after Friday night’s win, the Dodgers sit high atop the NL West, a full 7.5 games clear of the second-place Giants. It’s not quite time to call the division yet, but it’s getting close.
“It’s exciting,” Lynn said of pitching for the Dodgers. “This season [now] has a rebirth for me. I’m excited and really enjoying my time. I’m doing everything I can to help the team win.
For the first five innings of the ballgame, it was quite the pitchers’ duel, with Lynn locking horns with Rockies starter Austin Gomber, with neither giving up much of anything to his opponent. The Dodgers started the scoring in the third with a run-scoring single from Freddie Freeman, but the Dodgers squandered a great chance when they left the bases loaded in the inning. In the top of the fourth, the Rockies answered with an unearned run, precipitated by a Kike Hernandez throwing error.
However, after that, it was all Dodgers. They scratched across the go-ahead run in the fifth, and then piled on a load of insurance with a four-run sixth, highlighted by some clutch left-on-left hitting from David Peralta. After that, the Dodgers pretty much cruised to the win. The lone sore spot in an otherwise wonderful night was a leg injury late in the ninth inning to Yency Almonte, who had to be removed from the game and might be headed for an IL stint. Ryan Brasier had to do emergency duty to get the last out of the ballgame.
Now with their destinies clearly in their control, the Dodgers look to secure another series win against the Rockies on Saturday. It’s going to be Tony Gonsolin, still looking to get his groove back, heading to the mound for the home team. 6:10 first pitch.
