The Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers met for the third and final time of the spring, and Monday’s game saw Adrian Gonzalez make his 2017 debut but also multiple Dodgers leave early due to injury. The first of which was Scott Kazmir, who was removed one pitch into the second inning.
Andre Ethier (back soreness) and Henry Ramos (unspecified) were also early exits. Ethier led the game off with a base hit, but was doubled up on a hit-and-run as Chase Utley lined out. Justin Turner kept the inning alive by drawing a walk, only to be stranded when Tyler Chatwood retired Adrian Gonzalez.
Kazmir struck out Charlie Blackmon to start the bottom of the first and induced Carlos Gonzalez into an inning-ending double play after DJ LeMahieu’s single. Joc Pederson’s opposite-field home run gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
Kazmir threw one pitch in the bottom of the second and was promptly replaced by Ralston Cash. He allowed a triple, followed by back-to-back home runs, and the Rockies held a 3-1 lead before the inning came to a close.
Brett Eibner, pinch-hitting for Ethier, doubled with one out in the third inning. He was stranded by Utley and Turner. Following a Blackmon leadoff walk in the bottom of the third, LeMahieu’s RBI double added to the Rockies’ lead.
Yasmani Grandal and Pederson singled with one out in the fourth, though Scott Van Slyke followed by hitting into a double play, and the Dodgers’ deficit remained 4-1. Pat Valaika and Dustin Garneau both homered off Chris Hatcher in the bottom of the fourth inning, extending the Rockies’ lead to 7-1.
Eiber cashed in on a Kiké Hernandez double with an RBI triple in the fifth inning. But the run scored was negated when Carlos Gonzalez and Ian Desmond hit back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the fifth.
Darnell Sweeney led off the eighth with a single and later scored thanks to three wild pitches in the inning. Bobby Wilson, who drew a walk, scored on a wild pitch that was ball four to Cody Bellinger. Stetson Allie’s RBI single and Eibner’s RBI double pulled the Dodgers within a run of the Rockies.
Anthony Bemboom’s two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth provided necessary breathing room. The Dodgers scored a pair of runs in the ninth but came up short to the Rockies, 10-9, leaving the tying and go-ahead runners on base.
