Rockies bury Buehler and Dodgers with offensive explosion

DENVER — Coors Field, man. It’s rough. You know going in that the balls are going to be flying. And they were for the Dodgers early. Unfortunately, they were for the Rockies too, and more often. Walker Buehler got rocked for the second time this month, and left the game in the fourth inning after surrendering five earned runs. The Rockies kept piling on and after a three run blast from Sam Hilliard in the seventh, the game was essentially over. It was not, um, good.

Raley homer a bright spot

The Dodgers actually got on the board first in the top of the fourth. After Justin Turner singled and Gavin Lux doubled to bring him home, Luke Raley hit a massive two-run shot to left centerfield. The ball was absolutely pasted, and aided by the Colorado air, it ended up being the longest home run by any Dodger this season at 472 feet.

Rox chase Buehler in fourth

Walker Buehler had gone through the first three innings without any damage, but that all changed in the bottom of the fourth inning. They pasted the Dodgers’ ace for hit after hit after hit. At one time, five straight Rockies got hits in the inning and before the carnage was over, Buehler had surrendered five earned runs.

The big blows of the inning were a leadoff homer from Brandon Rogers on the first pitch of the inning and a back-breaking two-run double from the pitcher German Marquez with two outs. Walker didn’t even make it out of the inning. It was yet another poor start for Buehler, whose Cy Young hopes have evaporated in September. With tonight’s performance, Buehler is now 1-2 this month with a 7.32 ERA. Something is serious messed up with my dude Walker.

Blackmon tackle leads to outburst in seventh

Still, after Buehler left the game, the score was tied again when the Dodgers plated a couple on a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly in the top of the next inning. They could have had a lot more, but Trea Turner ran himself into an out on the bases and the inning fizzled after that.

However, even then, if the Dodgers bullpen had done their job, they still had a shot at salvaging a win. Unfortunately, things went just as badly after Walker’s exit. First, Justin Bruihl gave up a go-ahead single to Trevor Story in the bottom of the fifth to make it 6-5 Rockies. Then, in the seventh, the wheels really fell off the apple cart for the usually reliable Alex Vesia.

First, Charlie Blackmon essentially gave Vesia a shoulder tackle as he tried to apply the tag down the first baseline, jarring the ball free and sending Vesia tumbling to the ground. Vesia was shaken up a bit, but stayed in the game to pitch. He probably shouldn’t have. C.J. Cron raked a double to right that scored Blackmon, and then a bit later in the inning, Sam Hilliard cranked a three-run shot of Vesia that blew the game wide open. When Hilliard touched home, the score went to 10-5, and that is where it stayed for the rest of the night.

Ugh.

Add this turd of a game to the fact that the Giants beat the hapless Padres again, and you’ve got the makings of a pretty crummy night all the way around. Now two games out, the Dodgers try to win the rubber game of the series on Thursday afternoon. Max Scherzer gets the ball on a getaway day matinee. First pitch against Kyle Freeland and the Rockies: 12:10 Pacific Time.