The Los Angeles Dodgers were soundly defeated by the Colorado Rockies, who completed a four-game series sweep with an 8-1 victory. The Dodgers went winless on their homestand, have now lost 10 consecutive games and 15 of the last 16. The 10-game losing streak ties for worst in Los Angeles franchise history.
Rich Hill was coming off an encouraging outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but he failed to retire any of the first four batters faced. Charlie Blackmon’s walk and singles by DJ LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado put the Dodgers in a 1-0 deficit.
Trevor Story walked to load the bases, but Hill escaped the jam by retiring Carlos Gonzalez and striking out Mark Reynolds and Raimel Tapia. Arenado’s leadoff home run in the third inning extended the Rockies’ lead.
Hill completed his five innings by retiring the final five batters faced. He threw 88 pitches, allowed two runs on five hits, struck out five against issuing two walks, and was saddled with the loss.
A planned bullpen game for the Rockies went much better than expected. Tyler Chatwood was earmarked for three innings, yet he fired five shutout innings. That’s not to say Chatwood didn’t face his share of trouble.
The Dodgers had at least two batters reach in each of the first three innings. Andre Ethier singled in the fourth, and it wasn’t until the fifth inning that the Dodgers didn’t put a runner on.
The base hit for Ethier was his second of the game. Including a pinch-hit home run in Saturday’s loss, he was 3-for-his-last-3. If there were any thoughts of the Dodgers potentially tying the game, they were washed away in the eighth.
Walker Buehler worked himself into a jam and surrendered a grand slam to Reynolds. Buehler was removed after retiring just one of the five batters faced. Tony Cingrani gave up an RBI single before he could get the Dodgers out of the inning.
With the Dodgers staggering, Story landed the knockout punch in the ninth inning by hitting a solo home run off Wilmer Font. Alex Verdugo led off the bottom of the ninth with a pinch-hit home run to help Los Angeles avoid a shut out.
Next for the Dodgers is a 10-game road trip that includes a weekend series with the Washington Nationals. They clinched the National League East on Sunday by virtue of the Atlanta Braves defeating the Miami Marlins.
In addition to becoming the first team to secure a playoff berth, the Nationals are now just four games back of the Dodgers for best overall record.
