When Walker Buehler last faced the Colorado Rockies, he set a career high with 16 strikeouts in what was also his first ever complete game. He and the Los Angeles Dodgers still needed more heroics to win, and Matt Beaty provided it with a two-run, walk-off home run.
Buehler became the first Dodgers pitcher with 16 strikeouts and zero walks in a game during the Modern era (since 1900), and is the only pitcher in franchise history with more than 15 strikeouts and no walks since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893.
Buehler’s 16 strikeouts tied for the third-most by a pitcher in a single game in Dodgers history, behind Ramon Martinez (18) in 1990, Sandy Koufax (18) in 1959 and 1962, Dazzy Vance (17) in 1925 and Hideo Nomo (16) in 1996.
The start was the first time Buehler saw the Rockies since putting forth a dominant effort in Game 163 last season to help the Dodgers win the National League West. Despite having those outings to build on, the young right-hander was rocked at Coors Field.
Buehler was saved by the Dodgers hitting six home runs in a wild 12-8 victory. Afterward, he lamented not meeting his standards, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“I mean, it’s different. But I just wasn’t good enough. It’s not the park’s fault. … I didn’t have a good slider, didn’t command the ball the way I needed to. They were aggressive early in the counts and hit some pitches that caught too much of the plate.”
Back-to-back home runs by Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy provided Buehler with a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Though, he immediately coughed it up in the bottom of the second, and the Rockies took a 4-2 lead in the third inning.
L.A. jumped back out ahead, 5-4, in the fifth inning, and tacked on another run in the sixth. Yet again, Buehler allowed it to slip away in the bottom of half of that inning, as David Dahl’s sacrifice fly gave the Rockies a 7-6 edge.
Buehler retired Nolan Arenado, who was his final batter faced. The 24-year-old allowed 13 runs and seven hits, both of which are career highs, in 5.2 innings. It was Buehler’s shortest outing since going five innings against the New York Mets on May 29.
Prior to Thursday, the most hits and earned runs Buehler had allowed were seven and five, respectively. He’s allowed five earned runs on four separate occasions, including three times this season.
Buehler entered the night having pitched to moderate results at Coors Field in his career: 1-1 with a 3.81 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in six games (four starts). He held Colorado to just one run in five innings on April 6 in what was his second start of the season.
The dud was an atypical performance during June. Buehler had gone 3-0 with a 0.87 ERA and 0.45 WHIP in four starts this month. He allowed just three earned runs over 31 innings pitched during that span.
