Colorado Rockies 12, Los Angeles Dodgers 2: Rockies crush Dodgers, move above .500

The Colorado Rockies slugged five home runs and Tyler Anderson shut down the Los Angeles Dodgers offense in a 12-2 win that pushed the Rockies over .500 and to within three games of the postseason.

Carlos Gonzalez hit a pair of home runs and Nolan Arenado, Mark Reynolds and DJ LeMahieu also went deep as the Rockies secured a series win and, thanks to a Marlins loss in Chicago, moved to three games back of the second Wild Card spot. The win also pushed the Rockies to 54-53 on the season.

Anderson gave up a two-run home run to Justin Turner in the top of the first that put the Dodgers up 2-0, but that was all he would allow to cross the plate in his seven innings of work. In addition to the two runs, Anderson allowed six hits, walked a pair and struck out six, dropping his ERA to 3.25 on the season.

Down by two, the Rockies responded with five runs in the bottom of the first against Dodgers starter Brock Stewart. Charlie Blackmon and LeMahieu started the inning with singles before Nolan Arenado broke out of his slump with a three-run home run to put the Rockies up, 3-2.

David Dahl followed up Arenado’s home run with a single, the first of three hits on the night for the rookie outfielder, and came around to score on a two-run home run from Mark Reynolds, giving the Rockies a 5-2 lead after an inning of play.

As Anderson continued to mow down Dodgers hitters, the Rockies added more offense in the bottom of the fifth as Blackmon’s single preceded back-to-back home runs from LeMahieu and Gonzalez that put the Rockies up 8-2. Colorado grabbed a fourth run in the inning when Reynolds greeted Dodgers reliever Josh Fields with a single that brought home Arenado, who had walked.

With a 9-2 lead, the Rockies piled on three more in the sixth against Los Angeles’ prized rookie, Julio Urias, who was in a mop up role for reasons unknown. Urias started the inning by walking LeMahieu and serving up Gonzalez’s second home run of the day. He then allowed singles to Arenado and Dahl before getting Reynolds to ground into a double play that brought home Arenado to make it 12-2.

The lone downer on the night came in the bottom of the seventh when Gonzalez hurt his ankle on a swing, but the reports from the clubhouse postgame were universally positive.

The Rockies will look for a sweep of the Dodgers tomorrow night with Tyler Chatwood on the mound against Kenta Maeda, first pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. Mountain time.