FSM Essential Recap: Dodgers vs Rockies - Series 49

FSM Essential Recap: Dodgers vs Rockies – Series 49

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Los Angeles Dodgers (98-55) |  Colorado Rockies (71-81)

 

“Listen, if you start worrying about the people in the stands, before too long you’re up in the stands with them.”

– Tommy LaSorda

 

Game 3:

 

Down to their final out and trailing by a run, the Dodgers had the bases empty with two outs in the ninth inning. Mookie Betts and Corey Seager delivered back-to-back singles, bringing Trea Turner to the plate. On a 2-1 pitch, Turner singled to left field, scoring Betts to tie the game at five.

After a scoreless inning from Kenley Jansen, the game went into the extras. Max Muncy wasted no time, as he crushed the first pitch he saw over the center-field fence for the go-ahead two-run home run.

“He needed it a lot,” Dave Roberts said following the game. “He’s grinding like everyone in September is. It was good. I tip my cap to him for continuing to work. For it to prove beneficial today with that homer today was big for his confidence.”

For Muncy, it was his 35th homer of the season, tying a career-high. It’s his third season with L.A. in which he’s hit 35 home runs. He joins Duke Snider and Mike Piazza as the only players in franchise history with at least three seasons of 35+ homers.

With a two-run lead in the 10th, Blake Treinen was called to shut things down. After a one-out walk, the Rockies had runners on first and third with one out. CJ Cron stepped up to the plate, with every Dodgers fan holding their breath. On the season, Cron is hitting .829 against L.A. No, it’s not that high, but it sure feels like it, doesn’t it?

On a 2-0 pitch, Treinen got Cron to ground into the game-ending double play, giving the Dodgers the 7-5 victory and the series win.

Just like with most pitchers in baseball, Max Scherzer had struggled at Coors Field throughout his big-league career. Entering today, he had made five starts in Denver, posting an ERA of 5.88 with a WHIP of 1.65. Unfortunately, his struggles continued.

He lasted only five innings, his shortest outing since August 21. The five earned runs he allowed were his most as a Dodger and his most in a game since July 8. Entering today, Scherzer had allowed only five runs in his 58 innings with L.A. He matched that in only five innings. His six hits allowed were also tied for the most he’s allowed since coming to L.A.

 

“I thought he had a great game plan,” Roberts said. “The curveball just couldn’t finish. It would have been a lot more efficient if he could land it.”

The biggest X-Factor for the Rockies’ offense was starting pitcher, Kyle Freeland. He stepped up to the plate with two runners on and two outs in the second inning and singled in two runs to tie the game. Later in the game, Freeland walked and came in to score off a home run from Raimel Tapia. When the opposing pitcher is responsible for three of your five runs…. well, yeah that’s not good.

“I haven’t pitched here in a while,” Scherzer said. “I wasn’t able to get a good grip of the ball. I felt like I was making adjustments. I didn’t have a good feel for the baseball today. It just kind of got sideways from me. This is the toughest place to pitch and you learn from it.”

For those interested, Scherzer’s ERA of 2.28 is still the best in the majors.

With the Giants’ loss to the Padres, the Dodgers now trail San Francisco by one game in the division with nine games left.

 

Game 3 Boxscore:

 

WP: Kenley Jansen (4-4)

LP: Lucas Gilbreath (2-2)

SV: Blake Treinen (6)

HR: Raimel Tapia (6) Max Muncy (35)

 

 

The Dodgers will travel to Arizona for their final series against the Diamondbacks in the 2021 season. The Dodgers will start Tony Gonsolin Friday. The first pitch is at 6:10 and can be seen on SportsNet LA.

 

 

Game 2:

 

Pitching has carried the Dodgers all season, which made Wednesday night’s clunker a surprise. The usually reliable Walker Buehler and Alex Vesia had rough nights in a sloppy 10-5 loss to the Rockies.

The Dodgers scored five runs for the ninth time in 10 games. But for the first time since July 30, they lost while scoring at least five, snapping a string of 25 straight wins in such contests.

The ten runs allowed were the most by the Dodgers since June 12th, or 88 games ago. In between, Los Angeles pitchers allowed 3.01 runs per game.

Neither team did much offensively until the fourth inning, just like the series opener. But Wednesday’s outburst was much more lively. The Dodgers plated three runs thanks to players who started September in Triple-A, with an RBI double by Gavin Lux and a two-run home run for Luke Raley.

Raley’s mother was in the stands, which made the home run — his second this season — more special.

“This is the first time she’s gotten to see me play in the big leagues,” Raley said. “Which was really awesome I was able to do that today, in front of her.”

The Rockies answered immediately against Buehler, with Brendan Rodgers homering to start the fourth inning. Then Buehler allowed four straight singles. In fairness, one of them was an eminently catchable pop fly behind second base that fell between a trio of Dodgers. But he lost all benefit of the doubt by getting thumped by the opposing pitcher.

German Márquez blasted a two-run double to the gap in right center to chase Buehler in the fourth inning, giving Colorado a 5-3 advantage. Márquez hit the ball 100.6 mph off the bat, one of nine balls with an exit velocity of at least 95 mph against Buehler, who only faced 18 batters.

Buehler threw 74 pitches, and induced only four swinging strikes.

“They got me out to a lead, and I couldn’t protect it,” Buehler said. “My job is to set the tone and get us into the game, and I didn’t do that.”

 

It’s been a rough September for Buehler, with a 7.32 ERA and 4.58 FIP in four starts. He had his second truly bad start of the season on Wednesday, with both coming this month. He also reached 195⅔ innings on the season, surpassing his 2019 — 195 innings in the regular season and postseason combined — for a career high.

That pop fly behind second base in the fourth inning was hit by C.J. Cron, who didn’t really need the help. He had four hits on Wednesday, including his second straight night with two doubles.

The second of those Cron doubles was against Vesia in the seventh inning. Earlier in the inning, Vesia fielded a grounder up the first base line, but dropped the ball in a collision while trying to tag Charlie Blackmon. After a long conference with Dave Roberts and a team trainer, Vesia remained in the game with a sore jaw. He walked two (one intentionally) and allowed two hits while recording only two outs.

Sam Hillard had the second of those hits, a three-run home run to right center that essentially put the game away.

Vesia allowed multiple hits for the first time since May 29, and his four runs allowed — all unearned on Wednesday, thanks to his error — matched his total for his 26 innings and 28 appearances since getting recalled in July.

 

Game 2 Boxscore:

 

WP: Robert Stephenson (2-1)

LP: Justin Bruihl (0-1)

HR: Luke Raley (2); Brendan Rodgers (15), Sam Hilliard (12)

 

The Dodgers and Rockies finish things up on Thursday afternoon with Max Scherzer on the mound against Kyle Freeland of the Rockies. The first pitch is 12:10 and can be seen on SportsNet LA.

 

 

Game 1:

 

The win Tuesday night pulled the Dodgers to within a half-game of San Francisco in the National League West, with the Giants and Padres playing in San Diego. However, when that game was over, the Dodgers remained a game behind the Giants.

The Dodgers’ best relievers escaped late rallies to get the game through nine.

Entering with the bases loaded and two outs in a tie game in the seventh, Blake Treinen smothered a Rockies rally with a nine-pitch strikeout of Charlie Blackmon. For the eighth, Treinen remained in the game, working around a chip-shot leadoff single to keep the game tied. Treinen’s 1⅓ innings marked his team-leading 13th relief appearance of at least four outs.

Gavin Lux provided a mini-rally with a two-out single in the top of the ninth for his fifth multi-hit contest in his last eight starts. He was headed for scoring position thanks to a wild pitch by Carlos Estevez, but a perfect ricochet off the close wall behind home plate, combined with a rocket throw from catcher Elias Díaz, and a perfect tag by the covering Ryan McMahon, erased Lux to end the frame instead.

By contrast, in the bottom of the inning, a wild pitch by Kenley Jansen that didn’t stray far from Will Smith still proved far enough for Sam Hilliard, who walked, to advance to second with nobody out. But Jansen got a strikeout and a pair of flyouts to end the threat, sending the game to extra innings.

With Jansen used, Brusdar Graterol got the first two outs of the ninth, including a strikeout of C.J. Cron, but a walk to Ryan McMahon put runners at the corners with two outs. So in came Alex Vesia, who got a Welker — this one, right-handed rookie pinch-hitter Colton — to go over the middle, with an easy fly ball to centerfield to end it.

Vesia is the ninth different Dodgers pitcher to earn a save in 2021, the most they’ve had in a season since 1991. The club record is 11 pitchers with a save, done in 1979 and retroactively in 1941 and 1946, technically before saves were an official stat.

“It speaks to a lot of good relief pitchers and a lot of unselfishness,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We’re a good team. I trust all those guys down there. I really do.”

 

Five Dodgers relievers combined to record the final 12 outs without allowing a run, giving up two hits and five walks while striking out six.

The Dodgers offense was functioning about as well as my internet connection to start the game, with Antonio Senzatela carrying over his recent strong run into Tuesday night. The right-hander retired his first 11 batters faced, and Trea Turner’s infield hit was the only blemish against Senzatela through 4⅔ frames.

But the third out of the fifth inning proved elusive, with the Dodgers collecting four straight two-out, two-strike hits for a pair of runs, including a single by Julio Urías for L.A.’s first run, his ninth RBI of the season.

In the sixth inning, Trea Turner struck again with another single, this one of the standard variety. Then, Max Muncy banged a ball off the wall in center field, narrowly missing a home run but settling for a run-scoring double, complete with another patented “Smooth Criminal” slide by Turner.

Muncy’s double gave the Dodgers the lead, and he scored on a pair of fly balls to widen the advantage to two.

But the Rockies came right back in the bottom of the sixth with two runs of their own. Urías was relatively sharp on the mound but also allowed five doubles. The four two-baggers hit with two outs drove in runs, including a pair of RBI doubles by Cron. The lone leadoff double by Urías was hit in the fifth inning by McMahon, who even advanced to third base with nobody out. But Urías retired the next three to strand him.

Both starters allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings. Neither walked a batter.

 

Game 1 Boxscore:

 

WP: Kenley Jansen (3-4)

LP: Jhoulys Chacin (3-2)

SV: Alex Vesia (1)

 

Walker Buehler starts the middle game of the series against the Rockies German Márquez. Wednesday night’s first pitch is at 5:40 and can be seen on SportsNet LA.

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– Joe Arrigo

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