Steve Webb
DENVER, CO — It’s been very un-Coors like time for the Dodgers in the first five games of the season series. Going into Wednesday’s series finale, they had scored only an average of 3.0 runs per game and had lost four straight. But that all changed in this one. The Dodgers got ahead early and stayed there, riding hits up and down the lineup and three home runs to a 8-4 victory over the Rockies.
Dodgers jump to an early lead
After two straight games of less-than-stellar offensive performance, the Dodgers got out of the blocks in good shape in this one. In the top of the first, Freddie Freeman clobbered a ball to centerfield for a solo homer to stake the Dodgers to an early 1-0 lead.
It was another day of drama in the Freddie World, as it was reported today that part of the reason that he was so emotional about the whole thing over the weekend was that his agents had withheld some key information from him in the course of negotiations, info that most likely would have ended up with the Braves and Freddie coming to an agreement. Good to see he’s still able to block all the noise out when he’s on the field. I think any talk of him not being all-in on the Dodgers’ season will be mostly in fans’ heads from here on out.
More runs in the 2nd inning
After Dodgers starter Julio Urias had a good first inning, the Dodgers got back to work in the second. Just as Clayton Kershaw found out last night, you don’t walk guys at Coors Field. Rockies starter German Marquez walked two, and he paid the price. First, Cody Bellinger worked an epic 13-pitch at-bat into a base-on-balls. Then, Belli took third on new Dodger Jake Lamb‘s first hit with the club, a single to right. When Gavin Lux drew a walk, the bases were loaded with just one out.
Eddie Alvarez played a little small ball with a sacrifice fly that scored Bellinger from third. With the lineup turned over, Trea Turner came to the plate. He promptly smacked a 1-1 knuckle-curve against the right field wall. Both Lamb and the speedy Lux were able to score easily, and once through the batting order, the Dodgers had raced out to a 4-0 lead.
Smith homer makes it 7-1
In the fourth inning, Eddie Alvarez got his second RBI of the evening when he banged a single into right field to score Jake Lamb from second base. The Rockies answered in the bottom of the frame with a run-scoring double from Brendon Rodgers to get the Rockies on the board.
However, Will Smith pushed the Dodgers’ lead to six when he pulled a pitch deep among the paying customers in the left field seats. Smith continues his late charge for a spot on the All Star game, and if he keeps this up for another week or so, I’d say he’s done it.
Urías pitches well, but runs out of gas in the sixth
Julio Urias, at long last, got a bunch of runs to play with on Wednesday night. Not that he needed them. He pitched an efficient game through the first five innings with the only blemish to his record being the Rodgers RBI double in the fourth. Then, in the sixth, thanks to a walk and a bloop hit, Urias was in a one-out jam. When CJ Cron hit an RBI single through the shift, Julio had reached the end of the road. One more run came home in the inning, but still it was a good start for the lefty ace: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
Dodgers trade homers with Rockies late
In about the seventh inning, the cloudy skies over Coors Field opened up and it started to pour. However, the play continued as the two teams raced to finish the game before being washed out. In the eighth inning, Cody Bellinger and Brendan Rodgers both hit solo home runs, bringing the score to the 8-4 final. Brusdar Graterol, Reyes Moronta, and David Price finished up for Urias, and only surrendered that one home run in 3.2 innings.
Home for the Friars
This finishes up the road trip for the team with a 6-3 record. Which is about what I was hoping for on this one. The Padres come into the Ravine for a four-game set that gets underway on Thursday night with Mitch White against Joe Musgrove. Then in the rest of the series, it’ll be Gonsolin, Anderson, and Kershaw going against, Darvish, Snell, and McKenzie Gore. Saturday is another Fox game, but Thursday and Friday are the usual 7:10 first pitch. Let’s do this!
Cans of Corn…
- Loved what Jake Lamb did in his first Dodger start. 1-for-1 with a walk and two runs scored.
- Turner/Freeman/Smith is such a potent top of the lineup. Where does Betts fit in when he returns?
- Speaking of Betts, Doc says he’s making good progress and might be able to rejoin the team a little earlier than expected, perhaps before the ASB.
- Eddie Alvarez and Gavin Lux turned a sa-weeeet 5-4-3 double play that hauled Julio’s cookies out of the fire in the first inning.
- My man Gavin just keeps hitting. His two hits on Wednesday bring his average to .343 in his last 30 games.
- San Diego has been scuffling a little, but they’ll be sure to bring their A-game to the Ravine, whether or not Manny or Tatis are in the lineup.
