Hyun-Jin Ryu wasn’t done any favors by an Austin Barnes throwing error, but it ultimately was his inability to record a third out in the first two innings that did him and the Los Angeles Dodgers in, as they fell to the Colorado Rockies, 10-7.
A DJ LeMahieu one-out walk in the first inning was followed by a Nolan Arenado base hit. Mark Reynolds’ soft groundout advanced both runners, and Ian Desmond’s two-run double gave the Rockies a 2-0 lead.
With Ryan Hanigan on first base following a leadoff single, Jeff Hoffman’s sacrifice bunt attempt left two on with nobody out, because of Barnes’ low throw to second base.
Ryu retired the next two batters faced, only to then surrender a two-run double to Arenado and an RBI single to Mark Reynolds. Following an intentional walk of Ian Desmond, Carlos Gonzalez tacked on a two-run double.
Ryu managed to retire the side in order in the third, but ran into more trouble in the fourth inning. With two on and nobody out, Gonzalez hit an RBI single. Pat Valaika’s run-scoring double extended the Rockies’ lead to 9-0. Ryu balked a run in prior to the inning coming to a close.
While Colorado jumped out to a commanding lead, Jeff Hoffman largely quieted the Dodgers in his first career MLB start. Aside from walking Corey Seager with one out in the first inning, Hoffman struck out the side.
He worked around a Chase Utley base hit in the second inning, and stranded runners on the corners while striking out three more in the process. The Dodgers finally scratched in the fifth, behind Scott Van Slyke’s pinch-hit solo home run.
The book closed on Ryu after four innings pitched, with 10 runs (five earned) allowed on eight hits. He issued six walks (one intentional), hit one batter and recorded four strikeouts.
Cody Bellinger led of the sixth with a double and later scored on Utley’s triple, which knocked Hoffman out of the game. Jordan Lyles struck out Yasiel Puig but allowed an RBI double to Austin Barnes prior to recording the third out of the inning.
Utley singled with one out in the eighth, improving to 3-for-4 on the night, and 6-for-8 with one triple and two doubles in his past three games. Barnes kept the inning alive by working a walk, which led to a Yasmani Grandal pinch-hit, two-run double.
The Dodgers got another look at the game in the ninth, when Kiké Hernandez led the inning off with a double and scored on Brett Eibner’s base hit. Bellinger kept the line moving with a single of his own, and it forced the Rockies to call on Greg Holland.
Chris Taylor promptly singled to load the bases, but Utley grounded into a double play. Holland struck out Puig to convert his 15th save of the season.
Aside from nearly erasing a 10-0 deficit, another bit of positive news for the Dodgers was Josh Fields, Chris Hatcher and Grant Dayton combining to throw four scoreless innings.
