Dodgers Recap: Rockies Bloop Their Way to a 4-3 Walk-off Win as Dodgers See Winning Streak Snapped

Denver, CO — For all of the clutch offensive moments Teoscar Hernandez has had over the last couple years in Dodger blue, he’s also had some costly defensive mishaps out in right field this season. Tonight, a flare he misread that dropped ended up snapping the Dodgers’ three-game win streak, and giving the Rockies their fourth straight win.

The pitching staff was actually really good in this one. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, looking to bounce back from one of his worst career starts in Anaheim last week, did just that. He gave up three earned runs over seven strong innings, but he was even better than his line suggested. Two of the runs he allowed were due to a well-earned walk from Kyle Karros and yet another pop-up that Teoscar Hernandez was unable to get to. He allowed a game-tying solo homer to Ezequiel Tovar in the 7th inning, who’s success against Yamamoto is remarkable, but the Dodger starter wiggled out of further trouble in the 7th. Edgardo Henriquez continued to look impressive, recording a 1-2-3 8th inning, and Justin Wrobleski induced to weak flyballs to right field before allowing a grounder into center field. One of those fly balls, however, dropped in front of Hernandez and Warming Bernabel scored Tovar to win the game.

What is more concerning, however, is the Dodgers’ offense, who went 2-11 with runners in scoring position tonight, with six of those outs being recording via the strikeout. With a day off for Will Smith, and facing a left-hander in Kyle Freeland (who exited after four innings due to injury), the bottom half of the Dodgers’ lineup was especially bare. Andy Pages, who has been far better at Dodger Stadium this year than he’s been elsewhere, was followed by Alex Call, who’s struggled mightily since being traded three weeks ago. The bottom third consisted of the defensive-first Miguel Rojas, utility glove-first third-baseman Buddy Kennedy, and backup catcher Dalton Rushing, whose .OPS is below .600. The Dodgers’ three runs came on a sac fly from Rushing, an RBI single from Shohei Ohtani, and Alex Freeland‘s first extra-base hit, an RBI double in the 6th to break a 2-2 tie.

The top half of LA’s order, which produced so much yesterday, cannot be counted on every night. Some of these issues will fix themselves when Tommy Edman, Max Muncy, and Kiké Hernandez return from the injured list, but not all. The fact remains that the Dodger offense has struggled as of late, and they need more production in order to hang on to their two-game lead in the NL West. They’ll face Colorado again at 5:40 PT tomorrow, with Emmet Sheehan scheduled to go against Austin Gomber, another left-hander. Until then, folks.

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