The Dodgers start the series with a hard-fought win.
The Los Angeles Dodgers came into Denver leading the Colorado Rockies by 29.5 games and hoping to add to their total.
When the evening ended, the Dodgers met their goal, defeating the Rockies 9-7.
To their credit, though, the Rockies never gave up.
The offense was solid — but it wasn’t enough
The Rockies offense got off to a promising start behind a first-inning Hunter Goodman single followed by a Michael Toglia double that gave the Rockies their first score of the night, making the game 1-0 Rockies.
The Rockies tacked on another run in the third when another Toglia double brought home Jordan Beck (aided by some bad Michael Conforto fielding).
At the end of the third, the Rockies had a 2-0 lead.
That changed in the fourth.
Freddie Freeman got to first on a Toglia fielding error followed by Will Smith and Max Muncy singles. Teoscar Hernández got the RBI making the game 2-1, and then the Dodgers scored on the next play — a missed throw to the plate by Toglia — tying the game at two.
Following that, a Conforto three-run blast gave the Dodgers a 5-2 lead.
Then Toglia committed his second error of the inning as he allowed a Tommy Edman grounder to get past him. There were more hits, but when the inning ended, the Dodgers had batted around and taken a 6-2 lead.
The Rockies tightened things up in the bottom of the fifth as Jordan Beck hit a single followed by a Toglia double. Thairo Estrada got the RBI, and it was 6-3.
In the eighth inning, however, the Dodgers’ lead increased by two after a Shohei Ohtani (of course) home run, his 27th of the season.
On a positive note, Tyler Freeman’s hitting streak continued, now up to 11 games. He hit a leadoff single off Kirby Yates in the seventh followed by a Beck hit and another Estrada RBI (his 10th of the season). Freeman’s run made the score 8-4 though Ryan McMahon struck out looking to strand runners at second and third.
The Rockies persisted in the eighth when a Tyler Freeman double brought home Ryan Ritter. The score was 8-5 Dodgers. With Freeman standing on second, Anthony Banda walked Hunter Goodman, forcing manager Dave Roberts to bring in Tanner Scott. Jordan Beck promptly hit a double, bringing home Freeman and Goodman and making the game 8-7 Dodgers.
However, Juan Mejia was unable to stave off the Dodgers offense in the ninth, surrendering a double to Teoscar Hernández that scored Max Muncy. Heading into the bottom of the ninth, the score was 9-7.
Ryan McMahon bunted his way onto first (you read that correctly) with one out before Brenton Doyle hit into a game-ending double play.
The Rockies finished the evening with seven runs (all earned) on 14 hits. They struck out 11 times and had three walks. Also, worth pointing out, Michael Toglia had three doubles.
Interim manager Warren Schaeffer said, “With Mike, three doubles, it was a pretty good offensive night for him.”
With the exceptions of Brenton Doyle and Kyle Farmer, every Rockie had at least one hit.
Yes, it was another loss for the Rockies, but they did not give up against one of the most powerful teams in baseball.
That says a great deal about the persistence of this team.
“The boys ain’t backin’ down from nothing,” Schaeffer said.
Germán Márquez was good — the defense was not
Back in April when Germán Márquez faced the Dodgers in Los Angeles, he gave up seven runs on six hits, including two homers — and that happened in just 2⁄3 of an inning.
Tonight, Márquez looked to change that.
He cruised through the first inning on 11 pitches, striking out Freddie Freeman on three pitches.
He was coasting into the fourth, but shoddy fielding failed him when he was facing a team that left him no margin for error. (Toglia’s two errors in the fourth proved fatal.)
Of the first three innings, Márquez said, “I felt good. Everything was working.”
Márquez left the game after the fourth, in part because he rolled his ankle during the inning in addition to throwing 28 pitches.
He finished the evening going 4.0 innings on 68 pitches, giving up 6 hits and 6 runs (4 earned), 0 walks, and 6 Ks. Also notable: half of his pitches were his knuckle curve followed by his four-seamer.
After the game, Schaeffer said there was no concern about Marquez’s health.
“I thought Markie pitched well,” Schaeffer said. “We just cannot give a good team extra outs.”
He’s looking more like pre-Tommy John Germán Márquez
The bullpen gets the job done
It was one of those nights when the bullpen had to carry the load.
Ryan Rolison pitched 1 1⁄3 innings. He gave up five hits, two for runs (both earned), and struck out one.
In the sixth inning, Jimmy Herget entered the game, going 1 2⁄3 innings, giving up just one hit and striking out one. He continues to have a solid, if under-the-radar, season.
Just back from Albuquerque, Angel Chivilli entered in the eighth inning, facing the top of the Dodgers order. He made quick work of Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman, retiring them on 11 pitches.
Juan Mejia came in to pitch the top of the ninth and allowed the Dodgers to score one run.
Coming next
The Dodgers are now 49-32 while the Rockies fall to 18-61.
Join us tomorrow at 6:40 pm for Game 2 when Chase Dollander will face Yoshi Yamamoto.
See you then.
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