Rockies 4, Dodgers 0: The Kuhl-est win of the year

The Rockies offense scored four runs, but Chad Kuhl would have only needed one as he tossed the most dominant start of his career. His complete game shutout lifted Colorado over the Dodgers, handing Tyler Anderson his first loss of the season in exciting fashion.

Two-out knockin

The Rockies have struggled with runners in scoring position this season, especially with two outs. They took advantage early on Monday though, as they scored both of their first two runs in that very scenario.

The top of the first saw Connor Joe get into scoring position on a leadoff double, but Yonathan Daza couldn’t move him over and the returning Kris Bryant flew out to right to get Joe to third with two outs. C.J. Cron then continued his strong first half play with a run-scoring single, his 51st RBI of the year.

The next inning, Randal Grichuk sent a two-out double to left field and came home to score on Elías Díaz’s subsequent single to put the home team up 2-0.

Iggy gets his first

José Iglesias has been a nice surprise for Colorado, hitting .300 and being one of the league’s best hitters on the road. He still hasn’t hit for much power, though, and entered Monday’s affair looking for his first long ball of the season. That wait ended in the sixth inning, when “Iggy” sent a Tyler Anderson fastball out into center field for a 432-foot homer, his first in a Rockies uniform.

The home run doubled Colorado’s lead and put them in prime position to secure the victory behind Chad Kuhl’s electric arm.

The Kuhl-est start of the season

Chad Kuhl has had an up-and-down last month or so, but looked like a man possessed on Monday evening. Kuhl used all of his pitches effectively, and placed his arsenal well to entice weak contact from the Dodgers lineup all night. He allowed just three hits and walked none, striking out four and facing one batter over the minimum. Kuhl’s first career complete game and shutout is the most dominant outing this season - not just for Kuhl, but any Rockies starter this season. He faced just 29 batters, and faced the minimum of hitters in all but two innings. How fitting that he was caught by his old Pittsburgh teammate Díaz, who called a great game and assisted Kuhl with the phenomenal feat.

Colorado is now 3-1 against LA this season.

Up Next

The Rockies will try to keep the Dodgers off the board again in the second game of their series when Kyle Freeland (3-5, 4.29 ERA) takes on veteran Clayton Kershaw (5-1, 2.00 ERA).

First pitch is at 6:40pm MDT. See you then!