Dodgers emerge from the crypt to win in extras

DENVER — Circle this game on your calendars, Dodger fans. If the Dodgers come back to win the NL West, a big reason will be the awesome come-from-behind win at Coors Field on Thursday afternoon. Down to their last strike in the top of the ninth, the boys got off the mat and tied it up with three straight two-out singles. Then, in the top of the tenth, Max Muncy demolished the first pitch of the inning to give the Dodgers a 7-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Dodgers get on the board first

The Rockies’ Kyle Freeland ended up with a “quality start” but it certainly didn’t start out that way. The Dodgers had a lot of traffic on the bases early in the game, and managed to put three on the board in the top of the second and seemed to be rolling. AJ Pollock, making his first start off the IL, led off the inning with a solid double to left. And right away, his sore hammy got tested when Austin Barnes hit a single to right field. Pollock didn’t exactly turn on the afterburners, but he was able to round third and score easily.

Gavin Lux has been hitting everything in sight, so it was no surprise that he singled Barnes over to second. What was a bit of shock was that Lux and Barnes were able to pull off a double steal during Max Scherzer‘s at-bat. That double steal came in handy because Max Scherzer struck out and then Mookie Betts did the same. Corey Seager came to the plate with a couple of ducks on the pond. Seager, who has absolutely owned Kyle Freeland, continued to do so in this at-bat. He hit a little bloop over the infield that scored both Lux and Barnes, and la-di-da, the Dodgers were up 3-0.

Rockies score five straight off Scherzer

Usually, if you stake Max Scherzer to a 3-0 lead, it’s game, set, match. However, usually you are not playing at Coors field. In the bottom of the second, the Rockies got a pair of opposite field singles from Trevor Story and C.J. Cron to lead off the inning. Suddenly Mad Max was in a rare jam. And even rarer, Scherzer wasn’t able to work his way out of it. He gave up a run-scoring double to Sam Hilliard for the Rockies’ first run of the day. And then, after a couple of outs, pitcher Kyle Freeland came up to bat. And in a real back-breaker, Freeland hit a single into left to score both runs. The Dodgers’ lead had evaporated. It was now 3-3.

Then, in the unlikeliest of scenarios, Scherzer walked Kyle Freeland in his next at-bat in the fifth. And then, in the second back-breaker of the afternoon, left fielder Raimel Tapia took Scherzer deep to right. Like, waaaay deep. It bounced off the second deck façade for a two-run shot. Scherzer finished out the inning but the damage had been done. His day was finished. Final line for Scherzer: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 5 K. For those of you on Cy Young watch, his ERA for the season is now 2.28. Still first in MLB, but not by much.

Dodgers get one back in the eighth

The score stayed 5-3 for the next few innings, but finally in the top of the eighth the Dodgers were able to piece together a couple of hits for a run. Trea Turner led off with a single (he would go 3-for-4) on the day and came around on a two-out double from AJ Pollock. It was Pollock’s second double of the day, who was showing no signs of rust from the layoff.

Coming back from the dead in the ninth

Things looked pretty grim for the good guys in the top of the ninth as both Gavin Lux and pinch hitter Albert Pujols went down quietly. Down to their last out, Mookie Betts decided that it would be a good time to extend his fourteen game hitting streak. He hit a solid single to left, and the tying run was a board. Corey Seager got in a two-strike hole but was able to rip a hot shot back to the pitcher. The ball caromed off reliever Carlos Estevez and bounced toward third base for an infield hit. Then, in a huge clutch at-bat, Trea Turner ripped yet another single to left. Betts scored standing up and the game was knotted at five apiece. Justin Turner lined out to end the inning but the Dodgers had new life.

Jansen takes the game into extras

For the second time in the series, Kenley Jansen was called on in the bottom of the ninth to send the tie game into extra innings. He gave up a leadoff single to pinch hitter Charlie Blackmon, putting Dodger fans rushing for the antacid at home. However, even though he didn’t have the best control, Jansen got the job done. He got a strikeout, ground out, strikeout to put the Rockies down in order to send the game into the bonus frames.

Muncy pulverizes pitch for the lead

Justin Turner started the tenth inning at second base, but he wouldn’t stay there long. On the very first pitch from reliever Lucas Gilbreath, Muncy got busy. He absolutely destroyed an 80-mph slider and deposited it deep over the centerfield fence. It was Muncy’s 35th home run of the year, and I can’t think of a bigger one, given the stakes of this game. The two-run blast traveled 440 feet from home plate, and every Dodger fan in the country was screaming all along the way.

Treinen wild, but gets the save

Blake Treinen came in from the pen in the bottom of the ninth to secure the save. He got a quick out on the first pitch of the inning, thanks to a great catch by Mookie Betts in center. Betts had just moved over to center at the beginning of the inning, and it’s safe to say that previous centerfielder Gavin Lux wouldn’t have made that play. Betts got an awesome jump on the ball that maybe a half dozen centerfielders in the league could have made for the out.

Assigned runner Raimel Tapia moved over to third on the play, but his run was unimportant as long as Treinen took care of business at the dish. However, Treinen was uncharacteristically wild. He walked Trevor Story on four pitches, putting the tying run on base. Sub-optimal. Treinen seemed to be displeased with the condition of the mound, and there was an extended mound visit while Treinen did some groundskeeping, aided by Corey Seager.

After a couple of warm-up pitches confirmed that the landing spot on the mound was to Treinen’s liking, Blake went back to work. He had a tall order: facing Dodger-killer C.J. Cron, who has been all over LA pitching in this series, gathering seven hits over the last three games. Treinen quickly fell into an 2-0 hole against Cron, but finally he made the perfect pitch. He tossed a 97-mph sinker that Cron rolled over on and grounded to right side of the infield. 4-6-3. Double play. Game over. Dodgers win.

Whew!

That was fun, but let’s not do this again, mmmmmkay? And, with the Padres walk-off win against the Giants this afternoon, that means that the gap between the division leaders is back down to one game. The Dodgers head into Phoenix for three against the Diamondbacks and then they come back to the Ravine to finish up the season with the Padres and then the Brewers. Let’s do this!