The Los Angeles Dodgers jumped on Tyler Anderson early and went on for a 9-6 victory over the Colorado Rockies to pull back to within a half-game of first place in the National League West standings. Additionally, they improved to 63-25 this season when scoring first.
After pulling a single into left field, Justin Turner came around to score in the first inning on Manny Machado’s double. He didn’t appear to be inhibited running the bases despite being checked on after awkwardly rounding first on his hit.
David Freese continued with his strong since being traded to the Dodgers by poking an RBI single into right field. The ball beat Machado to home plate but Chris Iannetta lost control of it when applying the tag.
Kiké Hernandez answered with a leadoff home run in the second inning after the Dodgers had their lead cut in half. Turner’s line drive to left field kicked off Matt Holliday’s glove, resulting in a three-base error that also brought a run in instead of ending the inning.
Anderson was removed with two outs in the third inning, having allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits.
Highlighted as one of the reasons Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is optimistic his club will find itself at the plate, Chris Taylor’s booming two-run double off the wall in center field extended the Dodgers’ lead to 6-2 in the fifth inning.
Turner hit the ball hard yet again, with his two-run home run in the sixth leaving him a triple shy of the cycle and appearing to blow the game open. In reality, the insurance runs loomed large.
Rich Hill allowed back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the sixth, which brought in a run and prompted Roberts to bring the hook. Hill’s afternoon began on rocky note as Charlie Blackmon led off the bottom of the first with a home run.
However, Hill bounced back to retire the next nine batters faced, including four by strike out. His streak was snapped on a DJ LeMahieu triple to lead off the fourth inning. He scored two batters later on Trevor Story’s RBI groundout.
Brian Dozier’s uncharacteristic throwing error on a routine ground ball kept the inning alive for the Rockies, but Hill induced another grounder to strand Holliday.
Going to the bullpen didn’t pay immediate dividends as Pedro Baez allowed a two-run homer to Nolan Arenado. Baez responded with consecutive strikeouts to help get through the sixth inning.
Blackmon’s second solo home run of the day further cut into the Dodgers’ lead, but Hernandez’s leadoff triple was cashed in by Alex Verdugo’s RBI single that got past a drawn-in infield in the ninth. Meanwhile, Turner finished 4-for-5 with one walk, two doubles, one home run, two RBI and two runs scored.
