Rockies begin yearly tradition of getting dominated by Clayton Kershaw

At a certain point, you have to start to dread seeing his name.

Clayton Kershaw is 17-5 against the Colorado Rockies with 3.20 ERA, 217 strikeouts, and one of the best pitching performances of all time in a 15 strikeout no hitter on June 18, 2014. If you put Kershaw's career stats against the Rockies as it's own season, he'd be a Cy Young contender. If the Rockies ever tried to sign Clayton Kershaw as a free agent, he would likely just reply with a fax that he can't work for a team that he owns so frequently.

Needless to say, the Rockies do not like to face Clayton Kershaw. They showed why today in their first meeting with the Dodgers ace.

Kershaw went five innings, allowing only two singles and a walk, keeping the Rockies off balance, and never allowing a runner to even smell second base. Rockies pitching couldn't keep up, as Jordan Lyles and Justin Miller struggled early before the bats settled down. Lyles allowed four earned runs on five hits in only 2 1/3 innings, including a home run to Scott Van Slyke that could be politely described as "on a tee" and less politely described as "a really crappy pitch." Lyles won't be in any danger of losing his rotation spot after the start, and the most important news is he didn't suffer a freak injury during his time on the mound.

The Rockies offense was absent for the majority of the game, tacking on four late runs in the final two innings. One of those runs came by way of a Tony Wolters home run, and the other three from doubles  Noel Cuevas and Kyle Parker doubles.

Two players that shined in a rough day at the park were products of the very deep Rockies farm system. Antonio Senzatela and newly acquired German Marquez pitched a combined four scoreless innings with seven strikeouts between them and only three hits. Senzatela looked especially good, using his excellent control and well timed breaking pitches to strikeout four Dodgers.

Neither pitcher is a top 100 prospect, and both could be more than a year away from seeing the big leagues, but any tim young Rockies pitchers have a good performance, it's best to congratulate them for it.

The Rockies fall to 6-6 for the spring the loss at Salt River and will travel to Peoria for a game against the Seattle Mariners tomorrow at 2:10 PM MST. Tyler Chatwood is expected to start against Mariners ace Felix Hernandez