In his major league debut in front of a hometown crowd, Kyle Freeland pitched six innings of one-run ball. He walked two and struck out six batters. And he did it all in the midst of an inconsistent strike zone. Freeland was consistent with his fastball, and his slider was particularly effective. He struck out four batters swinging and two looking. In all, Freeland tossed pitches 95 pitches, 55 for strikes.
Freeland gave up his lone run in the fourth inning. Scott Van Slyke led off with a double, and manager Dave Robertson made the curious decision to have catcher Yasmani Grandal sacrifice him over to third base. He did score on an Enrique Hernandez groundout, but that’s all the Dodgers got.
The Rockies got their first run in the bottom of the first. With one out, D.J. LeMahieu and Carlos González hit back-to-back singles. Nolan Arenado drove LeMahieu home with a double. It could have been more. Charlie Blackmon led off the game by reaching first after striking out, but he was wiped out trying to steal second base.
The game was tied in the fifth—Dustin Garneau broke it with a home run to lead off the inning.
Carlos Estevez and Scott Oberg held the Dodgers scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings. Jake McGee came in and saved the win for the Rockies. The bullpen has been excellent so far. In four games, the the Rockies bullpen has pitched 171⁄3 and have allowed three runs. They’ve collectively struck out 22 batters.
The Rockies are now 4-1. Three of their four wins have been by one run. They’ll do it again tomorrow. Jon Gray faces Clayton Kershaw at Coors Field. The game starts at 6:10 MT.