After only previously having four games in which the offense scored three or more runs, the Rockies offense was able to string together some runs early in the game against the Dodgers. After an early 6-0 deficit that cost Chad Bettis his start after 22⁄3 innings, Charlie Blackmon, Trevor Story, and Nolan Arenado strung together a series of hits in the third inning to score two runs. Ian Desmond then knocked Arenado home to cut the deficit in half, due in part to the Dodgers not knowing how many outs were in the inning and not turning the double play. However, it was all Dodgers from there until the final out.
Dahl Down
Besides the 12 run attack of the Dodgers, the Rockies lost David Dahl — their best hitter of the young season — after the first inning. Dahl tweaked his oblique on a swinging strikeout in the first inning so he was lifted in favor of Raimel Tapia. Dahl was hitting .353/.395/.647 with five extra base hits (two homers) before his injury. Bud Black is hopeful that Dahl’s injury isn’t significant:
Quote from #Rockies manager Bud Black's @ESPN interview, on LF David Dahl leaving the game with an injury: "On the strikeout on the high fastball, he felt something in his abdomen, down below the oblique. We got our fingers crossed. We hope it's just a tweak."
— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) April 8, 2019
Hopefully he’s right.
Defensive Miscues
Charlie Blackmon had a strange night on both sides of the plate. While standing at the dish, he went 2-for-2 with a triple, a double, and an RBI sac fly. However, on the defensive side he made two critical errors in right field that ultimately cost the Rockies two runs.
Team Baseball
Despite plenty of problems, there were some positives that came out of this game. For instance, the Rockies scored six runs and they scored in early innings! Three of those runs came on a great sequence of at bats in the third inning by Blackmon, Story, and Arenado. In fact, those three hitters combined to go 6-for-8 with 4 RBI, a double, and two triples.
In the ninth inning, Raimel Tapia led off with a quick triple. He was then knocked in on a sacrifice fly by Mark Reynolds. Tapia had a really great game in place of the injured Dahl, making three outstanding defensive grabs in the outfield and going 1-for-3 at the plate with a walk, a triple, and run scored.
Coming Up
The Rockies welcome the Atlanta Braves to town for three games before going out west to face the Giants and Padres. Kyle Freeland and German Márquez are set for Monday and Tuesday, with Tyler Anderson’s spot open on Wednesday.