One night after the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies combined for seven home runs and 20 runs in a back-and-forth affair, they seemingly upped the ante as their four-game series at Coors Field continued.
Consecutive singles by Alex Verdugo and Justin Turner gave the Dodgers two on with one out in the first inning. Daniel Murphy then fielded a chopper but his throw to second base deflected off Turner and rolled into shallow center field, allowing Verdugo to score.
Murphy then committed a fielding error on a ball up the first-base line that might have rolled foul. It plated another run and seemingly set the tone for what lied ahead. Though, that wound up being a negative for the Dodgers.
Chris Taylor was charged for two errors — and Justin Turner had another — in what turned into an eight-run fifth inning for the Rockies.
Following the Dodgers’ 13-9 loss, which snapped a 12-game winning streak against the Rockies, manager Dave Roberts noted his team’s miscues as being unusual but credited them for continuing to play, via SportsNet LA:
“It was just a sloppy game. A lot of mistakes over the middle of the plate. That fifth inning for us, obviously the worst inning we’ve played all year, kicking it around. I though Joe threw the ball really well and had nothing to show for it. Very uncharacteristic of our guys, but to their credit we kept fighting back and answering, putting baserunners on. … We played hard all the way through. It just wasn’t the prettiest game. I’m not going to read too much into it because our guys prepare very well. We play 162 games. Nights like this unfortunately are going to happen.”
With the teams having split the first two games, Roberts maintained the Dodgers are in good standing moving forward:
“If you look at our ‘pen, I think we’re in a good place the next two days. You can’t win them all, the goal is to try to. Going into the last two games of this series, I feel good about our team, the way we’re playing, the way we’re preparing. We’re fine.”
Clayton Kershaw takes the mound Saturday, with Kenta Maeda going on the series finale. Sunday will mark the end of a stretch that saw the Dodgers play 18 games in as many days.
Since their season-high tying six-game winning streak came to an end, the Dodgers have lost three of their past five games. They nonetheless have a 12-game lead in the National League West and are two games up on the New York Yankees for the best record in baseball.
