LOS ANGELES—Being down 10 runs after four innings might discourage most teams, but the Dodgers kept fighting to make things interesting. Los Angeles turned a blowout into a close game that the Rockies needed their stand out closer Greg Holland to save for them.
“You’re never out of it here,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “It’s just a credit to our guys. For us to get [Rockies closer Greg] Holland in the game was a good thing for us when you’re looking at a four-game series. Our guys keep fighting.”
Hyun-Jin Ryu (1-5) had a rude awakening in his first game back from the disabled list. In just four innings, he surrendered 10 runs, five earned, eight hits, and six walks. Not a good stat line at all. Jeff Hoffman, who recorded the win while striking out eight batters in just under six innings, became another rookie pitcher to see success on the mound for the Rockies. German Marquez allowed only three hits in Wednesdays win, while Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela played in Tuesdays double header.
“When you see them have success and how they’re executing their game plan, it gives you a nice peace of mind,” Hoffman said. “It’s like, `All right, I can do that, too.”
The Dodgers were held scoreless the first four innings, but started to show life when Scott Van Slyke hit a solo homer in the fifth inning. Chase Utley, who had his second consecutive multi-hit game taking over for the injured Adrian Gonzalez on first base, followed with an RBI triple in the sixth. Austin Barnes forced Hoffman out of the game, after he scored Utley with a double that made the score 10-3. The Dodgers continued scoring in the eighth and ninth inning, forcing a total of three Colorado relievers to come on and preserve their lead. The Dodgers considered that to be a small victory in spite of the loss.
“Keep at it and try to dig deep into their bullpen as much as you can after a game like that,” Bellinger said. “Even when we’re down 10-0, we know where we’re playing, so we never gave up and we made it close.”
The Rockies, at 23-13 are now off to their best start in franchise history. They extended their division lead over the second place Dodgers to two and a half games. The Dodgers will look to cut into that lead as they send their ace Clayton Kershaw (5-2, 2,40 ERA) to the mound on Friday night. The Rockies will look to Tyler Chatwood (3-4, 4.74 ERA) to help keep the Dodgers from gaining on their division lead.
