Steve Webb
DENVER, CO — He didn’t have it in this one. What else can you say? Clayton Kershaw went to the well, and it was empty. Pitching in Denver, where nobody likes to pitch, Kersh had the worst outing of the season by far. He struggled with command all night and only lasted four innings. Top to bottom it was a bad outing. Though there were some positive signs in this one, the hole was too deep to climb out of and the Dodgers dropped their second straight game to the Rockies by a score of 7-4.
Dodgers strike first
At the beginning of the game it looked like the Dodgers might be headed for a good night at the plate. They scored in the very first inning when two of the first three hitters made good contact against Rockies starter Kyle Freeland. After a Trea Turner flyout, Freddie Freeman banged a single into center and stole second. Then, he scored easily when Justin Turner ripped a ball into the left field corner. Unfortunately, in perhaps a sign of things to come, Turner was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double and the inning ended with no more damage.
Kersh just never looked himself
From the get-go, it was apparent that Kershaw didn’t have his stuff on Tuesday night. He walked two Rockies in the first inning, which led to an RBI groundout from CJ Cron. Then a homer a couple of singles and walk in the second led to two more runs. Another home run in the third, and finally three singles in the fourth led to the Rockies’ sixth run of the evening. Not great. Kershaw himself put it more succinctly.
“I’m not going to overthink it,” Kershaw said. “I just sucked today. … I haven’t been that bad in a long time.”
A little more than five years, to be exact. Kershaw gave up six runs on nine hits, walking four and striking out four over four innings Tuesday night at Coors Field, marking the first time he had surrendered six or more earned runs in a start since June 19, 2017, against the Mets. “He just didn’t have his pitch mix tonight,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It was an off night. It’s bound to happen at some point.”
That “off night” probably just cost Kershaw a shot at the All Star team. His ERA ballooned almost a full point in this start. He entered the game with a 2.00 and left the field with a 2.94. Still good, but given his extended stay on the IL this season, it’s much harder to make the argument that the deserves to be on the team. Maybe he needs the time off anyway.
Dodgers get three solo shots
The Dodgers didn’t get a whole lot of offense in this one, but they did take advantage of the “Coors Field effect” for a few long home runs. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anybody on base for any of them, so it only added up to three runs.
In the 2nd inning, Hanser Alberto took advantage of a rare start and smacked his second home run of the year. Then, in the top of the 6th, Max Muncy hit a monster shot to center that was one of the longest hit balls by any Dodger this year. Finally, Trea Turner hit a solo shot in the top of the 9th to put the final score at Rockies 7, Dodgers 4. They got nine hits on the night, so it wasn’t as anemic a performance as on Monday night, but just could put anybody on base before any of these big bops happened, so ended up on the losing end of it.
Probably the most encouraging development was the night that Max Muncy had. In addition to his solo jack, He smashed a towering double that banged off the scoreboard in right field. It’s his second dinger of the road trip, and in his last seven games, he’s hitting .250 with an .875 OPS. That is back to All Star Max level. We’d take that from the Funky Muncy for the rest of the year for sure. Keep it up, Max.
Bullpen shakeup in the offing?
Judging by what we’ve seen on this road trip, it could be that the pecking order in the Hudson-less bullpen may have to change soon. Phil Bickford pitched another good inning on Tuesday, and other than the hiccup in the game in Cincy, he’s been quite good his last few outings. Yency Almonte gave up a run, but I still feel like he’s going to be an important part going forward.
Alex Vesia walked a couple of guys, and still struggles with command more than he did in his breakout year of 2021. But the biggest revelation on this road trip has to be Reyes Moronta, who pitched another 1-2-3 inning, striking out two. Moronta has yet to give up a hit since his return to the team from OKC. Wow. In the words of Bruce Springsteen, “Blow, Big Man, blow!”
Cans of Corn…
- Julio Urias tries to salvage the final game of the series on Wednesday. 5:40 start.
- Kershaw still hasn’t locked in his strike zone since coming back from the IL.
- Jake Lamb finally made it to the club, being called up from OKC to replace Zach McKinstry, who’s going to the 10-day IL to deal with some neck stiffness.
- With San Diego losing to Arizona, the Dodgers are guaranteed of coming home in first place. That four-game series at Dodger Stadium this weekend is going to be lit.
