The Los Angeles Dodgers were trailing, 8-2, when the eighth inning of the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies began. Considering how Los Angeles had struggled, a sweep by Colorado seemed imminent.
On top of the Dodgers’ bats largely being held in check at hitter-friendly Coors Field, only one team in Major League Baseball had come back this season from being down by six runs or more heading into the eighth inning in 449 tries.
However, the Dodgers chipped away at their deficit by scoring three runs in the eighth, and stormed ahead in the ninth with a five-run inning.
Their comeback was capped off by an Andrew Toles opposite-field grand slam home with two outs.
According to Doug Padilla of ESPN, Adrian Gonzalez believed the Dodgers were somewhat resigned to being handed another loss:
“I think we were somewhat mentally ready to go home on a sour note, but we knew that this is Coors Field and anything could happen, so we kept grinding,” veteran Adrian Gonzalez said. “We got three in the eighth and then five in the ninth.”
Manager Dave Roberts added he already had a postgame message to deliver after what would have been a disappointing series:
“I think that I had my motivation speech ready maybe after the fifth [inning] today,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But the fight, there is a lot of fight in our guys. Obviously it was going sideways, but to salvage a game in the series, get the day off tomorrow and we get back home.”
The Dodgers didn’t need to look far for previous examples of improbable comebacks at Coors Field. They scored five runs in the ninth on April 24 for a 12-10 victory and series win. The Dodgers’ rally came after the Rockies scored five runs in the eighth to take the lead.
The Dodgers get to enjoy an off-day Thursday before beginning a six-game homestand with series against the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks.
With the San Francisco Giants also winning Wednesday, the Dodgers’ lead in the National League West sits at 1.5 games entering play on Thursday.
