Colorado Walks-Off in Tenth To Snap Eight Game Losing Streak, Dodgers Still Lousy

It’s very difficult to write about this club right now, they are so bad. Two injury riddled clubs met at Coors Field in the second game of the three game series Saturday afternoon. It was like a battle of who could out injure the other. Oh my god I hate Coors Field.

Colorado came in with Cargo, and third baseman Nolan Arenado injured. Even starting catcher Wilin Rosario was out with the flu, so backup Michael McKenry had to start behind the dish. He got two hits of course.

Dodgers 4 10 1

Rockies  5 16 0

WP-Morales-4-4

LP-Perez-0-3

HR-Federowicz-1

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers already have Carl Crawford, Juan Uribe, and A.J. Ellis on the disabled list. Then during the game they lost both Dee Gordon and Yasiel Puig to injuries. Both have hip injuries, Puig’s is a hip flexor, and both are day-to-day. Gordon had to be removed from the game in the fourth inning. Then Puig was removed in the fifth. Chone Figgins replaced Gordon at second, and Scott Van Slyke replaced Puig in right field. I think the Dodgers won this battle. It was like a war of attrition in Denver.

Did the Dodgers actually win the game? No, no of course not. Anytime a game goes extra innings you can set your watch to a Dodger loss. That’s how it went as the Dodgers lost to the Rockies 5-4 in ten frames, with the Rockies scoring the winning run in the bottom of the tenth. The Rockies snapped an eight game losing streak in the process.

The Dodgers had to overcome a three run deficit just to make it a game. Zack Greinke was uncharacteristically shaky, and the Dodger bats were unable to get much going against Colorado starter Jhoulys Chacin.

Colorado scored a run in the bottom of the second. Troy Tulowitzki reached on an infield single to the hole at second. He advanced to second on a deep fly into the left field corner from Morneau. Then Michael McKenry’s RBI single brought him in to put the Rockies up 1-0.

The Rockies scored twice more in the fifth. McKenry singled, and then Ryan Wheeler singled him to third. Rutledge’s single scored McKenry to make it 2-0. Then ater a strange fielder’s choice rundown on a Chacin swinging bunt got Wheeler thrown out at the plate. That proved important. Charlie Blackmon’s single scored Rutledge, who had gone to third. That made it 3-0 Colorado.Greinke had to whiff Stubbs and Dickerson just to get out of the inning.

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers did nothing with the bats until the seventh inning, in which they scored four runs to take a 4-3 lead.

Kemp walked, and Andre Ethier singled him to third. Justin Turner singles into right to score Kemp. That made it 3-1. Colorado hooks Chacin and brings in Nick Masset, who is the guy who gave up the Manny Ramirez bobblehead slam. Then the Colorado decided to challenge Tim Federowicz, who made the Rockies pay. T.Fed slammed a three-run home run to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead! This was the best part of the game. We’ve always liked Fedex over here, so it was great to see him contribute.

Of course the pitching staff gave the lead right back in the bottom of the seventh. Greinke was still pitching and after getting Culberson to whiff and Blackmon to ground out, gives up a single to Drew Stubbs. Turner throws the ball away for another error, allowing Stubbs to take second. Then predictably Dickerson singles to center to score Stubbs. That ties the game at 4-4.

The Dodgers had a chance to retake the lead in the eighth, when Matt Kemp tripled to lead off the frame. But the Dodgers couldn’t score him. Ethier, Turner, and T.Fed all grounded out.

The Dodgers lost the game in the tenth when Chris Perez allowed a one-out single from Morneau, and then substitute Brandon Barnes triples over Ethier’s head. Morneau trots into score and that was that. Dodgers lose as usual.

Greinke wasn’t great today, but was not involved in the decision. He allowed three earned runs on eleven hits through seven frames. He walked one and struck out six. Chacin allowed three runs in six hits through six frames. Franklin Morales, the Rockie’s banished starter got the win, and Perez took the loss.

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Matt Kemp had a good game today despite being thrown out on the base paths trying to stretch a single into a double. Kemp, Ethier and Turner all had three hits. But the Dodgers lost Gordon and Puig. Gordon’s injury was felt in the morning when he woke up. He tried to play through the pain, and of course when is that ever a good idea?

So now the Dodgers have five of their eight starters out injured. The club falls to 32-31 on the season, and with another Giant’s win will be 9.5 games back of first place. This is clearly not a championship caliber team. This is simply just not the right group of players. I’m still hoping that the club can move a couple of the veterans during the trade deadline in order to clear up some roster flexibility.

The Dodger’s disappointing season continues on Sunday, as the club tries to get a series win with all of their regulars injured in the rubber game. Clayton Kershaw will counter Jorge De La Rosa at 1:10 PM. Kershaw need only to pitch a complete game shutout in Denver for the Dodgers to stand a chance at winning. No biggie.