Entering Saturday’s matchup, Clayton Kershaw had last lost to the Colorado Rockies on July 12, 2013, going 10-0 with a 2.24 ERA since that point. Included in that was a 5-0 mark in his past seven outings at Coors Field.
But Kershaw was knocked around and labored through six innings. A curveball to Nolan Arenado in the bottom of the first had the Rockies All-Star third baseman off-balance, but he still managed to muscle a solo home run to center field.
Jon Gray walked Yasmani Grandal with two outs in the second inning, then allowed a base hit to Yasiel Puig. A wild pitch allowed both runners to advance, only to be stranded when Chase Utley grounded out.
After Kershaw led off the third inning with a base hit, Andrew Toles grounded into a double play. Kershaw collected a pair of strikeouts in the bottom of the third and worked around a Charlie Blackmon triple to keep the Rockies’ lead at 1-0.
Joc Pederson and Grandal walked with two outs in the fourth. Puig nearly came up with a game-tying hit but was robbed by Gerardo Parra’s diving catch on a sinking line drive. Trevor Story ran into an out in the bottom of the fourth after hitting a one-out double.
His baserunning gaffe proved costly as Parra singled before Kershaw could get out of the inning. Toles’ opposite-field home run in the fifth tied the game. But the Rockies pulled ahead in the sixth by capitalizing on Kershaw missing over the plate.
Arenado led the inning off with a single, but it was Mark Reynolds and Parra who landed the big blows. Reynolds clubbed a two-run homer to left-center field, and Parra followed with a solo homer. It marked the first time in Kershaw’s career he allowed back-to-back home runs.
Kershaw struck out Dustin Garneau to end the inning. He exited after throwing 100 pitches in six frames and allowing four runs on eight hits. The Dodgers bullpen continued to answer the bell, with Grant Dayton and Chris Hatcher combining for two shutout innings.
That extended the group’s streak to 13.1 consecutive scoreless innings this season. Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-out, RBI single in the eighth, but that was it for the Dodgers in their 4-2 loss. It was their first defeat in a Kershaw start at Coors Field since May 2, 2012.
