Steve Webb
DENVER, CO — Bobby Miller keeps telling us he’s an ace. It’s time we start listening to him. Once again, the Dodgers’ rookie righty posted big time, holding the Rockies in check while the offense ran roughshod over the Colorado pitching staff. In all, it was a very gratifying 11-2 win to end a day that had started out as kind of a bummer.
After the Dodgers went down in order in the first, Miller pitched a scoreless frame in the bottom half of the inning. That set the stage for the explosion that would pretty much end the game barely thirty minutes in. The Dodgers were relentless in the top of the second, hitting six singles in the inning that resulted in a five-spot on the scoreboard. The big blows in the inning, were a pair of two-run hits. The first by David Peralta to get the scoring started. The second courtesy of Chris Taylor, who drove in the final two runs of the inning. Sandwiched in between was an RBI knock from Amed Rosario.
And so it went for the rest of the game. The LA hitters turned Coors Field into a singles bar. In all, they hit 16 singles. The only two extra base hits of the evening came off the bat of Freddie Freeman as he chases some truly historic numbers. He hit homer number 27 in the top of the sixth. And then in the top of the ninth, he hustled out a double for two-bagger number 58 on the year. No batter has hit 60 doubles in a year since 1936, so all eyes will be on Freeman this weekend as he chases down history. In this one, he did plenty well: 2-for-4 with two walks and two extra base hits. He’s not going to win the MVP this year, but god, he’s been good.
But let’s circle back to Bobby Miller for a second. It’s impossible to state just how big the emergence of Miller has been to the Dodgers in 2023. The rookie righty is now 11-4 with a 3.89 ERA. An absolute lifesaver to this rotation. After the loss of Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, and Julio Urias, it seemed like the Dodgers’ starters were going to be shaky at best. But in fact, given where Miller, Emmet Sheehan, and Ryan Pepiot are at right around now, I wouldn’t bet against this group in October. Didn’t have that on your preseason preview, did you? Neither did I. In this double header alone, Miller and Pepiot went 13 innings and gave up only three earned runs while striking out 18 Rockies (nine apiece for each pitcher). That’ll play.
“I know it’s a little mental block when you come pitch here in the altitude, but you can’t let that get to you,” said Miller after the win. “You just have to stay in attack mode, stay in the zone and don’t try to walk anybody,”
Having survived this late season double-header no worse for wear, the Dodgers will be playing single games for the next five nights to finish out the regular season. First up, Emmet Sheehan faces off against fellow rookie Noah Davis (0-3, 8.77 ERA) in a 5:40 start, and then the Dodgers wrap up their Colorado adventure on Thursday. After that, it’s off to Northern California to wrap up the year with a series against the soon-to-be-eliminated Giants. Sounds like fun.
