Steve Webb
DENVER, CO — Clayton Kershaw was rolling. Until he wasn’t. Through five innings, he’d only been dinged for a couple of unearned runs on some very soft contact in the first inning. But with one out in the sixth, presumably a couple of batters away from ending a very successful outing in Coors Field, things went haywire on him. The Rockies exploded for a three-run rally that knocked Kershaw out of the game and handed him his fourth loss of the season. When all was said and done, it was a 5-3 loss to the Rockies, and a real missed opportunity for a win.
Dodgers get on board first
The Dodgers haven’t had any problem scoring runs in the first inning this season. In fact, they’ve scored more in the first than they have any other inning of the ballgame. And their 71 runs in that frame are second in baseball only to the 72 of the Yankees, who have played two more games. That trend continued on Saturday with a couple of very professional at-bats from Freddie Freeman and Will Smith.
After Rox starter Kyle Freeland had retired Mookie Betts and Trea Turner, Freeman banged an infield single up the middle that shortstop Jose Iglesias got a glove on but couldn’t field. Then, after getting ahead of Freeland 2-0, Will Smith smacked a run-scoring double to the gap in right centerfield. Just as they had on Thursday and Friday, the Dodgers were off to an early lead.
Weird inning puts Rox back on top
It was a Kershaw day on Saturday, and this one got off to the weirdest start possible. Perennial pest Charlie Blackmon lead off with foul ball after foul ball, taking Kershaw to ten pitches in the AB before ground a slow roller to short that Trea Turner had no play on. Then, after a strikeout of Kris Bryant and a CJ Cron flyout, Brandon Rodgers hit another slow roller, this one didn’t even make it past the pitcher’s mound. But, by the time Kersh could get to the ball, Rodgers was easily safe at first for the second infield hit of the inning.
That brought up Jose Iglesias, who hit a hot ground ball right at Max Muncy that could have been the end of the inning. Unfortunately, the ball ate up Muncy and bounce high over his head into left field. Muncy was charged with an error, Blackmon scored and we were tied once again.
The tie lasted about two seconds because three pitches later, Randall Grichuk drilled a center-cut fastball past Freddie Freeman and into right field to score the Rox second unearned run of the night.
Dodgers strike back
The Dodgers got right back on top in the top of the 3rd. With one out, Trea Turner banged his 16th home run of the year over the left center field fence to tie the game at two. Then, after a Freddie Freeman triple on the next pitch, the Dodgers had the go-ahead run in scoring position. After a Will Smith K, Hanser Albert came through with a floater over the infield to score Freeman and put the Dodgers ahead 3-2. Hanser seems to be heating up at the plate. He was 2-for-3 in this one and is now hitting .372 with six RBI in his last seven games.
Kersh cruises through the middle innings
Now staked to a lead, Clayton Kershaw seemed to be having his way of it against the Rockies lineup. After the shaky first, he only gave up an infield single and HBP through the fifth inning. His pitch count was way too high because of the funky first inning, but he seemed to be in line for his 8th victory of the year. All the he needed to do was navigate through one more inning, and then he could enjoy the back slaps and attaboys from his teammates.
Disaster in the 6th
That never happened. The bottom of the 6th proved to be Clayton’s Waterloo in this one. It started off easily enough. CJ Cron hit a liner to right for the first out. But then the wheels fell off the apple cart. Brandon Rodgers, who is playing like an All-Star in this series, banged a solid single to left. Then, Jose Iglesias doinked a little flyball into right that dropped in front of Mookie Betts for another single.
With runners at the corners, Randall Grichuk laced a triple down the right field line on the very next pitch. Both runners scored, and the Rockies were up 4-3. Elias Diaz kept the hit parade rolling by pulling a line drive into left to score Grichuk. And in the blink of an eye, Kershaw went from on the cusp of a win to being yanked from the ballgame. Caleb Ferguson came in to get a double play ball and end the inning, but Kershaw’s solid outing had come to an end with a resounding thud. His final line for the night: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.
Rockies’ pen silences Dodger bats
The rest of the way, there wasn’t much to write home about. The Dodgers went down in order in the 7th and 8th. In the 9th, closer Daniel Bard got the first two out before Max Muncy banged a solid double off the right field fence to bring the tying run to the plate. Unfortunately, Austin Barnes hit a harmless fly ball to centerfield and the game was over. Final score: Rockies 5, Dodgers 3.
The Cat comes back on Sunday
Tony Gonsolin will be getting the start on Sunday as this four-game series wraps up. He’s coming off his worst two outings of the year, the last of which resulted in his first loss of 2022. You know he is going to be eager to put the Dodgers back on the winning side of the ledger. And equally eager to prove to the front office and the rest of the league that his amazing start was not fluke, and he is in fact a pitcher that can be counted on in October. We shall see…
Cans of Corn…
- The Dodgers are now 67-33 after 100 games. Last year at this time, the team was 60-40. They are on a pace to win a team-record 109 games.
- Zach McKinstry is no longer a Dodger. He’s been traded to the Cubs for veteran reliever Chris Martin.
- Outfielder James Outman is being called up from OKC. Looks like he’ll be making a start on Sunday. It will be his major league debut.
- Expect Mookie to play second base on Sunday, too.
- Some rough breaks for Kershaw in this one. The Rockies only barreled up a handful of balls in this one, but that was enough to score five.
- Kershaw’s ERA since the All-Star game is 6.52. Ugh.
- Trea now has a 17-game hitting streak.
- Kyle Freeland struck out Betts, Turner, and Freeman in order in the 5th inning. Don’t recall that happening before.
