Blame It On the Rain: Dodgers Rocked By Carlos Gonzalez

“The big story is it is not raining at Dodger Stadium although it is raining all over Southern California-thank the good lord.” -Vin Scully

The Dodgers were able to squeeze in their game versus the Rockies on Thursday despite the rain, but Yimi Garcia unfortunately faltered with two outs in the ninth when CarGo hit a three-run homerun at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers couldn’t comeback this time in the ninth, and they lost just their fourth game at home this season.

Brett Anderson got the complete game win the last time the Dodgers played in a rain-shortened game in Colorado. This time the rain was in Los Angeles, and the thunderstorms hitting the south land was a welcomed event even though it wasn’t ideal conditions to play baseball in.

Anderson pitched well through 5 1/3 innings, and his off-speed pitches were breaking really well in the wet weather. The bearded southpaw’s solid performance led to 8 strikeouts, and he even got on base twice with a RBI double and a walk. Move over, Mr. Silver Slugger Zack Greinke.

The Dodgers offense was fueled by four doubles (Rollins, Gonzalez, Ethier, Anderson). Gonzo drove in two runs with his first inning double, and the big first baseman now has 32 RBI on the season to lead the team. The battery of Anderson and Grandal contributed to the tally with a RBI each.

The game was flipped upside down in the top of the ninth when the Rockies had the big homerun from CarGo, and the Dodgers bullpen is suddenly in flux with Pedro Baez hitting the disabled list earlier in the day with a pectoral strain.

Dodgers 4 9 1

Rockies 5 9 0

WP- Betancourt (1-1)

LP- Garcia (2-1)

S- Axford (4)

HR- Rosario (2), C. Gonzalez (3)

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Brett Anderson narrowly escaped the first inning without allowing a run when the Rockies got a man to third with one out. Charlie Blackmon‘s leadoff single was wasted even though Troy Tulowitzki nearly hit a homerun on a long fly ball that went just foul. Anderson was doing Anderson things, and he induced two groundouts and managed to get a Tulo strikeout.

Jimmy Rollins was back in the lineup on Thursday night, and he hit a one-out double to the gap to spark the offense for the Dodgers on the night. Howie Kendrick followed with a single to right, and the Dodgers were in business with runners at the corners and one out. The Dodgers cashed in their first runs of the night thanks to Adrian Gonzalez who hit a double down by the right field bullpen gate after going 3-2 against Chad Bettis. Butter and eggs.

May 14, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Brett Anderson (35) in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Rockies struck back right away in the top of the second. Wilin Rosario hit a leadoff solo homerun over the right field fence, and the Rockies temporarily cut their deficit to one run.

Andre Ethier came up with the third Dodger double of the night, a leadoff double to right field in the home half of the second. Then a rare sight indeed… a Brett Anderson RBI double! The pitcher doubled to the left center field gap as it began to rain at Dodger Stadium. Ethier easily scored on Anderson’s third career double.

Anderson pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the third with two strikeouts. The rain began to come down harder, but the game continued.

Nolan Arenado made yet another fantastic play at third base to rob Scott Van Slyke of an extra base hit down the line in the bottom of the third. His throw was offline, but Rosario tagged SVS on the helmet as he ran by. Scott’s helmet flew off, and it looked as if he got a bit of a scratch on his forehead from the tag.

Other than the Rosario homerun, Anderson looked sharp under the gloomy skies. He allowed a single to DJ LeMahieu in the fifth, but he ended up striking out the side using some beautiful off-speed pitches to do so.

The Dodgers scored their fourth run in the bottom of the fifth. All with two outs, Adrian Gonzalez walked, Scott Van Slyke managed an infield single (even though Arenado made a great attempt to get him), and after a peanut butter and apple snack, Yasmani Grandal‘s RBI single gave the Dodgers a three-run lead.

The Dodgers then loaded the bases up thanks to a tiring Bettis who walked Ethier. Juan Uribe, who has five grand slams in his career but hasn’t hit one in five years (and his number is five) as explained by Vin Scully, ended up flying out to center to end the inning.

The game was stopped in the top of the sixth inning when the rain wouldn’t relent and lightning bolts were striking down in the distance. Brett Anderson was having trouble gripping the ball, and the Rockies had runners at the corners with one out when the umpires halted the game. Anderson walked Carlos Gonzalez, and a Tulo groundout moved him to second. After Arenado’s single, the tarp was rolled out for the delay.

May 14, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; A general view of a tarp that covers the field due to the threat of rain prior to the game between Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

After a very lengthy 1 hour and 25 minute delay, the game picked up where it left off but with new pitchers. Juan Nicasio was brought in by the Dodgers to pitch to Wilin Rosario with runners at the corners. Justin Turner took over at third for Juan Uribe. Rollins botched a probable force out when he couldn’t come up with the grounder hit by Rosario. CarGo brought in the second run of the night for Colorado on the error. This would be costly in hindsight.

The Rockies then loaded up the bases after a Corey Dickerson single. Nicasio reared back to strike out Nick Hundley who struck out three times in the game. Nicasio then struck out LeMahieu on three 97-mph fastballs in a row.

Brett Anderson pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed 1 run on 5 hits with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk on 88 pitches.

Chad Bettis pitched 5 innings and allowed 4 runs on 7 hits with 3 strikeouts and 4 walks on 106 pitches.

Lefty Ken Roberts took over for Bettis in the bottom of the sixth, and other than a walk and stolen base by Turner, the Dodgers can’t do much against the southpaw.

Juan Nicasio struck out another two batters in the seventh, and the hard throwing right-hander’s ERA is now down to 1.06 on the season.

Adrian Gonzalez doubled again in the bottom of the seventh, but for some reason Gonzo tried to steal third with Grandal at bat and Hundley threw him out. Don Mattingly challenged the call, but it was upheld after the review. Gonzalez probably would have scored on the subsequent Yasmani single, and this turned out to be a very costly mistake. Once in awhile Gonzo tries to steal or bunt, and I get very confused.

Chris Hatcher pitched a nice scoreless inning in the eighth, but Yimi Garcia ran into some trouble in the ninth. Hundley singled and avoided striking out for a fourth time. LeMahieu struck out, but Drew Stubbs singled. Yimi struck out Blackmon, and with just one more out for the win….CarGo hit a three-run homerun to right center field, and the Rockies shockingly took a 5-4 lead.

John Axford shut down the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth only allowing a walk to Gonzo.

The Dodgers drop to 22-12 on the season and 15-4 at home. The Rockies snapped their 11-game losing streak with the win.

On Friday, Clayton Kershaw will take the mound against Colorado’s Eddie Butler.

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