Jon Gray strikes out eight as the Rockies fall 4-1 against the Dodgers

Jon Gray put up an eight strikeout effort against Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Rockies offense was unable to provide much run support as they lost 4-1.

The Rockies got into the run column rather early in this one when Carlos Gonzalez broke open the scoring with an RBI groundout, scoring DJ LeMahieu from third base.

Jon Gray allowed a base hit to the first batter he faced in Joc Pederson, but followed that up by striking out Chase Utley, and eventually picking off Joc Pederson. He closed out the inning by striking out Adrian Gonzalez.

Clayton Kershaw settled in nicely in the second inning, striking out Corey Dickerson, Tom Murphy, and Brandon Barnes in order.

Gray ran into some trouble in the second after an Andre Ethier single followed by a double from Corey Seager. Gray was able to get out of the jam, allowing just one run on a sacrifice fly from Yasmani Grandal. Gray continued to look sharp, striking out Joc Pederson and Adrian Gonzalez in the third. He had six strikeouts through the first three innings.

Things remained quiet until the fifth inning when the Dodgers broke through to take the lead after an RBI double from Justin Turner to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. Gray’s night was finished after 4 2/3 innings and 92 pitches. He allowed just two runs on six hits while striking out eight and walking two.

Rex Brothers, Brooks Brown, and Christian Friedrich came on in relief to throw 2 2/3 clean innings to keep the Rockies in the ball game. The Dodgers destroyed any hope the Rockies had when Scott Schebler jacked a two-run shot off of Miguel Castro to right-center field to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead.

Chris Hatcher came in and closed things out as the Dodgers took the first game of the series 4-1.

Source: FanGraphs