Coors Field again played host to another wacky affair, and a comedy of errors by the Los Angeles Dodgers resulted in a 13-9 loss to the Colorado Rockies. That snapped the Dodgers’ winning streak against the Rockies at 12 games.
Entering Friday, the Dodgers’ season high for runs allowed was eight. Opponents had reached that mark four times, including Arizona Diamondbacks twice in their series this week. Benefitting from three errors and overall sloppy play by the Dodgers, the Rockies scored eight runs in the fifth inning.
Their onslaught began against Hyun-Jin Ryu, who failed to record an out in the fifth. After Garrett Hampson’s leadoff double was followed by Pat Valaika ending an 0-for-30 skid with a pinch-hit, two-run home run.
Charlie Blackmon singled, then scored on Ian Desmond’s double. The string of hits continued when David Dahl went to the opposite field for a go-ahead home run. In the blink of an eye the Rockies suddenly were out to a 7-5 lead.
That marked the end of the road for Ryu in his shortest start of the season. One night after Walker Buehler set career highs in hits and runs, Ryu was tagged for a season-high seven earned runs. He entered having allowed a combined five earned runs in 71.2 innings over his past 10 starts.
Joe Kelly taking over did nothing to slow the Rockies. Nolan Arenado kept the line moving with a double, and Daniel Murphy reached on an infield single that was compounded by Chris Taylor’s throwing error to second base, allowing Arenado to score.
The Dodgers were gifted an out on Kelly’s wild pitch that went off the bricks behind home plate and ricocheted back to Russell Martin, who threw to second base to nab Murphy. An infield single and fielding error put two more runners on, and Taylor’s second throwing error scored another run.
Perhaps in effort to atone for miscues, Taylor attempted to make a play ranging to his left but instead had the ball skip off his glove for an RBI infield single.
The Dodgers had a look at the game thanks to Max Muncy’s three-run home run in the sixth inning. The 464-foot blast is the longest hit by a Dodgers player this season. In eighth, Murphy struggled to field another dribbler to first base.
Muncy’s infield single pulled the Dodgers to within a run and gave him a game-high five RBI. The Rockies immediately responded, though JT Chargois inherited a bases-loaded jam with nobody out in the eighth inning and nearly worked out of it.
Murhphy hit a sacrifice fly which was followed by a Chris Iannetta two-run double.
While it wasn’t quite to the level of their own sloppiness, the Dodgers were first to score because Murphy’s throw to second base on a fielder’s choice hit Justin Turner in the back and got away, bringing Alex Verdugo home.
Murphy then misplayed a dribbler up the line that may have gone foul but he fielded it and threw wide of first, allowing Turner to score from third base. Taylor’s two-out RBI single gave the Dodgers a 3-0 lead before Antonio Senzatela could get out of the inning.
Alex Verdugo provided what cushion at the time with his second home run in as many games, this time a two-run blast in the fourth.
Because the game hadn’t seen enough as it was, it included a 19-minute delay before the bottom of the seventh inning began due to lightning in the area.
