Dodgers 5, Rockies 2: Struggling offense and too much bullpen sinks the Rockies

In one of the longest 5-2 game you’ll ever see (pushing four hours), the Colorado Rockies bullpen could only hold things together for so long before the Los Angeles Dodgers broke through in the eighth to secure the victory.

Bullpen comes through ... except for Bard

The bottom of the third inning got off to a sloppy start with Trea Turner advancing to second after a bloop single on a fielding error by Connor Joe and catching Jon Gray napping to steal third. Gray’s struggles continued as he walked Max Muncy before being removed with an apparent forearm/elbow injury.

Tyler Kinley was called upon for the unenviable task of entering with runners on first and third and nobody out. Kinley induced a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Justin Turner before striking out Will Smith to end the inning. The damage was limited to one run for the Dodgers.

Yency Almonte came on in the fifth inning and struck out four Dodgers, allowing no hits and two walks in his two innings of work. Almonte looked better than he has all year and also made a ball move like this:

Jhoulys Chacín pitched a scoreless seventh inning before handing things over to Daniel Bard in the eighth. Bard gave up a soft single, walk, walk, and single to allow two runs to cross the plate for the Dodgers before he was mercifully removed by Bud Black.

Robert Stephenson finished the frame with a flyout, strikeout and a single (with Will Smith out on a throw). The book was closed on Bard with three runs allowed without recording an out.

Productive outs at the plate

A key component for good offenses is being able to produce positive outcomes even when making outs. This is something the Rockies have certainly struggled with in recent years, but did have more success with this evening. The first run of the game came around when Jon Gray advanced runners from first and second to second and third on a textbook sac bunt, setting up Connor Joe for the sac fly to right field. The second RBI of the game for the Rockies also came on an out as Trevor Story was able to score from third on a groundout off the bat of Ryan McMahon in the fourth inning.

Anti-Coors

Dodger Stadium is clearly a gimmick ballpark that plays unlike most of the other stadiums in Major League Baseball. There were four or five fly balls to right field (by both teams, but mostly the Rockies) over the course of the game that would have cleared the wall in at least 25 of the 30 parks in the league that were knocked down by the thick night air in Los Angeles. It is obvious that baseball should not be played in that environment and a move to Las Vegas should be considered for the Dodgers to alleviate this issue.

Up next

Antonio Senzatela and the Rockies take on TBD and the Dodgers. Los Angeles is clearly rattled and don’t know who to name as their starter as they try to avoid losing a home series to Colorado. First pitch will come at 2:10pm MDT and time will tell who will throw that first pitch.