The Los Angeles Dodgers nearly mounted a comeback Tuesday night, but their two runs scored in the ninth inning culminated in a 4-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Losers of three straight entering Wednesday, the Dodgers are 7-8 this season.
While the series opener against the Rockies saw Hyun-Jin Ryu surrender a career-high three home runs, he also joined Clayton Kershaw and Brandon McCarthy as the lone Dodgers starters this season to throw six innings.
Ryu had gone 4.2 innings in each of his previous two starts. He finished Tuesday night with season-high seven strikeouts.
Ryu bounced back from a shaky first inning to retire the side in the second, and he worked around a two-out single in the third to keep the Dodgers’ deficit at 2-0.
But prior to that point, Ryu needed a little luck on his side at the start of the third inning. Charlie Blackmon hit a slow chopper up the first-base line, which put Adrian Gonzalez in a difficult position.
He ultimately deferred to Ryu on the play, and although an out seemed improbable, the two pulled it off. Gonzalez, a four-time Gold Glove winner, managed to field a glove toss by pinning the ball against his neck a split second before Blackmon reached the bag. Gonzalez’s sheepish smile said it all.
