The Rockies have capped off an 0-6 road trip at the hands of the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers. A three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium concluded this evening, following a tumultuous seventh inning with the Dodgers at the plate.
Early action: Home runs all over the place
Colorado drew first blood in the evening contest, thanks to a blast to right field by Ryan McMahon. He was followed up in the third inning with a big fly by Garrett Hampson; with Austin Gomber posting two zeros to that point, the early workings were pointing in the Rockies’ favor.
Contrary damage would follow in the third inning, after pitcher Julio Urías reached on a weak infield single and leadoff hitter Chris Taylor drew a five-pitch walk. Justin Turner would go on to blast one to deep center field, scoring three and turning the game around for all 15,129 in attendance.
Gomber had a day—minus one swing
In an ideal world where Turner’s home run could just be skipped over, Gomber would have got out of the third inning unscathed with Max Muncy’s groundout and Will Smith’s strikeout. Gomber threw 95 pitches on the night and allowed six hits in six innings. Turner’s home run was the lone blemish; otherwise, he kept the Dodgers out of the run column and his seven strikeouts were notable against a potent lineup.
Gomber exited the game in line for the win, as Colorado held a 5-3 lead after the sixth inning. Los Angeles starter Julio Urías allowed five runs (four earned) in six frames.
The big sixth
Colorado sent eight batters to the plate in the sixth inning, as McMahon, C.J Cron and Josh Fuentes all reached on consecutive hits. Cron picked up an RBI following McMahon’s double, and Yonathan Daza would drive in two runners on a single to right with a throwing error. Gomber would later pitch a three-up, three-down bottom of the inning, and the Rockies held a two-run lead.
The big seventh
Dave Roberts went to the bullpen in the top of the seventh and reliever Jimmy Nelson cruised through the top of the Colorado order. Bud Black also went to the bullpen in the bottom of the frame, bringing on Yency Almonte in back-to-back days. Almonte pitched a scoreless inning on Wednesday.
He punched out Luke Raley to begin his work, but would go on to walk pinch hitter Matt Beaty on five pitches. Chris Taylor would ground out immediately after, but another five-pitch walk to Turner threatened the delicate 5-3 lead.
Almonte would throw a wild pitch with Muncy at the plate—and shortly after, Muncy crushed one to right-center.
6-5 Dodgers.
Tyler Kinley would replace Almonte immediately after the home run, allowing two singles and a walk before handing the bases loaded to Carlos Estévez. In a huge act of bullpen ERA salvage, Estévez got Zach McKinstry to ground out on three pitches. (One run would score on an Estévez wild pitch, however.)
Late life: Colorado threatens in the ninth
There was some fight in the Rockies up to the end, even with a former Cy Young winner on the mound for a save situation. It wasn’t Kenley Jansen, but instead David Price pitching the ninth for the Dodgers in his fourth appearance of the year.
Colorado sent their seven and eight hitters to the plate to start the inning. Yonathan Daza and Alan Trejo both reached with singles, and the two-run lead was looking grim for the Dodgers with pinch hitter Trevor Story making his way to the plate.
Story would strike out on five pitches, and Hampson would later punch out on three. The last batter of the evening was Tapia, grounding out to second base.
Coming up next
Now is not a good time to say that the Rockies will have to face Jacob deGrom on Friday.
At the very least, it will be exciting to watch a two-time Cy Young winner go to work in our ballpark. deGrom has made two starts this year and is currently holding a 0.64 ERA after cruising through the Marlins and Phillies earlier in the year. Colorado will counter the Mets with Chi Chi González; not exactly a marquee name like deGrom, but he is coming off a strong showing last Saturday in San Francisco (5 IP, 1 ER) despite a fair amount of traffic on the bases.
The Rockies will return to Coors Field with a six-game losing streak intact, and the weather in Denver will not be favorable. The Rockies and Mets are slated to face off at 6:40 p.m. MDT on Friday, and the heated coils beneath the playing surface at 20th and Blake will be on full blast. Denver expects a high of 39 degrees on Friday with a chance of snow showers around first pitch.