After taking two of three from the Atlanta Braves to win a third consecutive series, the Los Angeles Dodgers opened a three-game set against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Friday night.
Jon Gray’s 2016 debut got off to a rocky start as Chase Utley opened the game with a triple to center field. Two pitches later, the Dodgers were out to an early 2-0 lead behind a Corey Seager home run to center field.
After striking out Justin Turner, Gray gave up a towering solo home run to Adrian Gonzalez that reached the second deck in right field. Yasiel Puig struck out swinging and Yasmani Grandal grounded into a shift to end the inning.
Scott Kazmir battled Trevor Story to the tune of 13 pitches before getting the rookie shortstop to strikeout. Carlos Gonzalez grounded out on the first pitch he saw, and Kazmir put a relatively easy 1-2-3 first inning in the books.
Gray retired Howie Kendrick, Joc Pederson and Kazmir in order in the top of the second, collecting his third strikeout of the game. Nolan Arenado and Mark Reynolds combined or back-to-back singles that left runners on the corners with no outs in the bottom of the second.
After Ryan Rabrun drew a one-out walk to load the bases, Tony Wolters grounded to Gonzalez, who recorded a force out at second base. Kazmir was unable to cover first base in time for a double play attempt, and a run scored on the play.
Seager drew a one-out walk in the third, but misjudged how far a ball got away from Wolters and was picked off first base. Turner then struck out on Gray’s next pitch to end the inning. Kazmir rebounded from a tough second inning to retire the side in order in the third on only seven pitches.
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Puig pulled a one-out single into left field in the fourth, then stole second base a few pitches later. Wolters throw carried into center, allowing Puig to take third. That’s as far as Puig advanced, with Grandal and Kendrick both striking out swinging.
Failing to extend their lead hurt the Dodgers as Arenado led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run. Gerardo Parra’s one-out single was followed by a Ryan Raburn line-drive two-run home run that just cleared the fence in left field to give the Rockies a 4-3 lead.
Gray issued a leadoff walk to Pederson in the fifth, then struck out Kazmir and Utley to set a new career high with nine strikeouts. Seager and Turner connected on back-to-back singles to load the bases. Gonzalez delivered for the Dodgers, driving a two-run go-ahead single to left field.
Gray limited the damage by striking out Puig on a pitch outside of the zone. Kazmir got through the bottom half of the inning without allowing a run, but not without the help of Puig. After failing to make a leaping catch up against the right field fence, Puig recovered and threw a strike to nail Story on his attempt to turn a double into a triple.
Pedro Baez entered in the sixth and induced three grounders to retire the side in order. Seager and Turner drew back-to-back walks with two outs in the top of the seventh, but were stranded as Gonzalez grounded out to end the inning.
Yimi Garcia quickly found himself in trouble in the bottom half, with Raburn hitting a leadoff single and Wolters drawing a walk to put two on with no outs. After both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt, DJ LeMahieu’s sac-fly tied the game.
Garcia was unable to finish his inning of work as Dodgers assistant athletic trainer Nate Lucero and manager Dave Roberts visited the mound after the right-hander threw a couple of pitches to Story. Garcia was removed with an apparent injury and replaced by Adam Liberatore, who ended the inning with a strikeout.
Chris Hatcher walked Arenado with one out in the bottom of the eighth, then gave up a broken-bat single to Reynolds that just cleared Utley’s leaping attempt. Brandon Barnes’ two-out, two-run triple gave the Rockies a 7-5 lead and knocked Hatcher out of the game.
Luis Avilan got called strike three on Wolters to end the eighth inning. Jake McGee retired Trayce Thompson, Utley and Seager in the ninth to wrap up the Rockies’ 7-5 win. The loss was the Dodgers’ fifth consecutive at Coors Field, tying their longest losing streak in Denver since 2011.