Steve Webb
The last game of the series against the Rockies came on Jackie Robinson Day. Manager Dave Roberts and the team gathered at the Robinson Statue for the pre-game chat. April 15th. 2021 marks the 74th anniversary of Mr. Robinson breaking the color barrier playing in his first major league game. “It was really cool,” said Max Muncy of the pre-game meeting. “It was just a really cool day across baseball…Doc had a lot of good messages. The biggest thing was just talking about being a good person really.”
Match-up
The Dodgers were going for their second consecutive series sweep and the Rockies were trying to avoid losing a sixth game in a row. Colorado sent Austin Gomber and his winless record to the hill. Julio Urias climbed the Dodger Stadium mound with his undefeated record. Julio looking to start the season with 3 straight wins. The broom closet door was open; would we be reaching in again?
Urias had only walked 1 batter in his first 2 starts and began the game aggressive, attacking the strike zone. The Rockies Ryan McMahon might have planned for this, as he took the first pitch he saw deep over the right field fence. Zach McKinstry tried to make a leaping grab but just missed the ball as it bounced off the top of the fence.
Rockies take the lead
Austin Gomber has had control issues in 2021. Gomber gave up an early double to hot-hitting Chris Taylor. Then, Justin Turner wasted no time with a hard hit line drive, and just like that the Dodgers had runners on the corners. Max Muncy struck out, and the inning came to an abrupt ending when Will Smith hit into the double play. Rockies 1 Dodgers 0 after the 1st inning.
In the top of the 3rd frame, the Rockies added to their lead. Garrett Hampson had a nine-pitch at bat and sadly the 9th pitch ended up in the Dodger bullpen.
Dodgers Response
Urias took matters into his hands to start the Dodger 3rd with a single over the head of McMahon. After a walk to Taylor the Dodgers quickly had two on. Then Justin Turner flexed some muscle and put the Dodgers in front 3-2 with one swing of bat. He took Gomber deep to centerfield, but this time no nachos were injured in the production of these runs. Turner has now hit homers in consecutive games, and this was the 7th homer the Dodgers in the series.
Turner Rolling
Turner continued his perfect night in the 5th inning. He hit a sharp fly ball to left and ran into 2nd base standing up, continuing his blazing start on the season. His average is now up to .432 with four homers and 14 RBI’s. Any more doubters on bringing JT back at third base?
Missed Call and Messy Defense
Colorado was awarded a 4-strike at bat in the 6th inning. Tapia had grounded out and Ryan McMahon hit a double standing on second base. Then CJ Cron watched what looked like the 3rd strike go by. Plate umpire Corey Blaser must have closed his eyes, calling the pitch a ball. Maybe to compensate, the very next pitch from Urias was four inches higher in the zone. The result was a sharp hit single, plating McMahon and now it was a 3-3 tie.
The missed strike then resulted in the addition of two more runs in the 5th. Josh Fuentes singled to put Rockies on first and second with 1 out. Then Yonathan Daza hit a ball to Zach McKinstry and the flashback World Series deja vu on defense. McKinstry and Taylor could both have been given errors, but at least they shared this one. Rockies 5, Dodgers 3 at the end of 6.
Karma?
Jimmy Nelson came in and pitched a clean 7th inning. The Rockies countered with Yency Almonte in relief. He started promptly by striking out Luke Raley. Then Matt Beaty came on to pinch hit for Nelson and was walked on a 3-1 count. Chris Taylor reached base beating out a double play and setting the table for Nacho-Nacho man Turner. Any more Dodger Magic?
Turner had a very disciplined at bat, walking on a borderline pitch. With two Dodgers on and 2 outs, could Muncy be the one? The Max Muncy wearing the commemorative 42 cleats? After a Rockies passed ball, moving the runners up a base, maybe the Rockies should have walked him? The next pitch Max unloaded on the Almonte change-up. The ball landed eight rows up the pavilion and 405 feet away from home plate. The Dodgers were up again.
More shaky Rockies relief pitching allowed for another Dodger run on a passed ball, and we headed to the 8th with a 7-5 lead.
Grabbing for the Broom
Dennis Santana came in the top of the 8th inning. A line out to Turner and a nifty play by Rios to Santana and the Rockies got two quick outs. Then a great defensive play by Seager ended the inning. The Dodger bats were quiet in their half, and our Dodgers were up 7-5 going to the top of the 9th.
David Price came in for only his 20th career relief appearance to close it out. He promptly allowed two hits on softly hit balls, and suddenly the Rockies were threatening. Showing some grit after falling behind 2-0 to Trevor Story, David battled back and managed to strike out Story and the next batter Hampson. With the last chance for the Rockies at the plate, the experience from Price was displayed. He jammed Tapia, forcing a soft ground out to end the game.
This was first career save for David Price, who had announced earlier that he was donating his salary for the day to the Players’ Alliance in honor of Jackie Robinson. Not a bad way to honor him at all. And for the Dodgers, the brooms were out in force for the second straight series.
Next Up: the Padres
Bring on the Padres Friday night. The Dodgers head to San Diego for the 3 game series. Game time Friday is 7:10. The Dodgers will send out Walker Buehler (1-0, 1.50 ERA) and the Padres will counter with Ryan Weathers (1-0, 1.50 ERA).
Until then, we can savor another wonderful night of Dodgers baseball.
