The Rockies and the Dodgers played yet another close game for most of the night on Thursday at Coors Field. The atmosphere felt like something special, like something more than your average regular season game. Unfortunately the Dodgers were once again too much for the Rockies. They put the game away with some late offense to win by a final score of 12-8 and make it 12 straight wins against Colorado.
The Dodgers love their home runs
They’re the best team in the league for a reason. Their recipe for success falls in line with the current trends of the league, and their offense will just homer you to death if they aren’t walking you to death (or some combination thereof).
The Dodgers hit six long balls in this game, and it was the usual suspects doing the damage. Cody Bellinger hit one with the help of a lucky hop off David Dahl’s glove at the wall. Max Muncy hit two, Justin Turner hit one and Alex Verdugo hit one. And then Kike Hernández delivered the final blow with a three-run shot in the ninth inning.
Combine that with the fact that Chris Taylor had four hits and the Dodgers had 17 hits total, and it’s no wonder the Rockies gave up as many runs as they did.
Wade Davis update: he’s still a mess
I’m running out of ways to say he has no command. He misses every location with his fastball and he hangs his breaking pitches. Davis entered a tied game in the ninth inning with a clean inning and he gave up four runs. He walked people, gave up a couple singles and gave up a three-run home run.
We can acknowledge the greatness of the Dodgers in late, high-leverage situations while also being frustrated with the status quo. And we can also note that Peter Lambert got roughed up long before the bullpen was ever involved. But the Rockies needed Davis to hold, and once again he fell apart.
Maybe Bud Black will eventually realize he can’t keep using Davis in high-leverage spots. Let’s just hope the Rockies are within 20 games of first place when he does.
The Rockies knocked Walker Buehler around
The offense is alive and well, and they are clearly happy to be back at Coors Field. After Buehler made them look silly in Los Angeles last week, the Rockies responded by scoring seven runs on 13 hits against him. They put together multiple rallies and hit the ball hard. That was great to see. It’s just too bad it went to waste.
Not surprisingly, Charlie Blackmon had a particularly great night, driving in a couple runs and coming up a home run short of the cycle. Raimel Tapia also came up big with a four-hit night.
Ryan McMahon hit a baseball really far
Add this to the “too bad they wasted it” category, but McMahon showed you how much power he packs with that pretty swing of his by hitting this home run.
We're tied thanks to a HUGE #RyMacJack pic.twitter.com/ZoRjUwWQPT
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) June 28, 2019
Looking ahead
The Rockies continue this series against the Dodgers on Friday with Antonio Senzatela on the mound against Hyun-Jin Ryu for the Dodgers.