Dodgers crush Rockies 14-1

In the most predictable defeat of the season, the Rockies lost a game that featured Daniel Descalso hitting second and Ryan Raburn batting cleanup. The opposing pitcher was Clayton Kershaw. It was worse than could have been conjured though, as the Dodgers beat the Rockies 14-1.

The Dodgers beat up Rockies’ starter Chad Bettis early. Yasmani Grandal led off the second inning with a single, after which Bettis walked Josh Reddick and gave up a single to Howie Kendrick to load the bases. A Joc Pederson single scored two. After a sacrifice bunt and another walk, Corey Seager grounded out to plate another run. Justin Turner capped off the scoring in the inning with a single, and the second inning ended 4-0 in favor of the Dodgers.

In the fourth inning, Bettis began by walking Pederson. Kershaw sacrified him to second base, and he scored after a Ryan Raburn error. Turner singled in another run to make it 6-0.

Bettis couldn’t make it out of the fifth inning. With one out, Josh Reddick doubled to right-center field. He struck out Howie Kendrick and intentionally walked Pederson to get to Kershaw. Kershaw, however, singled to left field to score Reddick, making it 7-0. That was it for Bettis. He finished with 4.2 innings pitched, allowing seven runs on eight hits. He walked four and struck out three.

In relief, Eddie Butler allowed another run in the sixth inning to make it 8-0. With one out and Turner on first, Butler struck out Adrian González. Turner took off on the strikeout pitch, but Tony Wolters, in a rare bout of being a flawed human being, started for the dugout as if it was out number three. Butler then walked Grandal, and then Reddick singled in Tuner. The run could have been avoided.

Not that it would really matter. Things completely unraveled in the seventh. The short version: with two outs, Butler loaded the bases. González singled to score two runs, making it 10-0. Christian Bergman relieved Butler, walked Grandal to reload the bases, and Reddick hit a grand slam to make it 14-0.

The Rockies couldn’t do much on offense. Nolan Arenado gave the Rockies their first hit in the fourth inning; it was a single. He squibbed another single in the seventh. Stephen Cardullo doubled off of Kershaw in the fifth inning, which might end up being the highlight of his career (that’s not a dig; doubling off of the best pitcher of his generation is an accomplishment). Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings and gave up just those three hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out six.

The moment the Rockies would like to remember came in the eighth inning. Pat Valaika hit his first career home run to left-center field off of Jesse Chavez.

The Rockies finish the season series against the Dodgers tomorrow, as Tyler Anderson faces Brandon McCarthy. The game begins at 2:10 MT.