Rockies strike out 15 times, lose game and series to Dodgers

With yet another loss earlier in the day by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Colorado Rockies were guaranteed to conclude their nine-game road trip atop the National League West.

However, division leads in May are worth nothing but pride and targets on backs, and the rubber game between the team and the Los Angeles Dodgers was still an important game to walk away from with a win, and perhaps a little breathing room as they return to the Mile High City. Yet the offensive woes that has plagued the team all season cost the Rockies the game and the series, despite a strong outing from their pitching staff.

Wednesday night was Kyle Freeland’s turn to take the mound, looking to build off his recent success. He entered the game with a 1.59 ERA and a batting average against of .183 in his last five starts, and lead the Rockies in bWAR at 1.8 coming into his 10th start of the year.

The Dodgers trotted out Kenta Maeda, who entered the game with a 3.89 ERA, allowing exactly one hit per inning.

But the early part of this game would tell a different tale, as the Rockies failed to record a hit off Maeda until Ian Desmond lined an opposite field single with one out in the fifth. It was the fourth time in their last 10 games the team failed to record a hit through the fourth. Fortunately for Colorado, Freeland matched him nearly pitch-for-pitch in the first three innings, allowing only a single to Yasiel Puig.

Things started to unravel in the fourth, however. A trio of hits and an RBI fielder’s choice by Puig put the Dodgers ahead 2-0, with further damage avoided by the help of Trevor Story, who caught Logan Forsythe leaning on Puig’s grounder.

The Dodgers tacked on another run in the fifth on a Matt Kemp sacrifice fly that scored Austin Barnes, but a heads up cut-off play by Nolan Arenado allowed the Rockies to catch Justin Turner trying to advance from first and end the inning.

The Rockies seemed to be posing a response in the sixth with a one out walk to Charlie Blackmon followed by a single by David Dahl to move him to third. However, strikeouts by Arenado and Gerardo Parra, the latter of which was Maeda’s 10th of the game, ended the threat and the score remained 3-0.

Maeda was finally chased in the seventh, after coming within one pitch of an immaculate inning, before losing Chris Iannetta to a walk. After it was all said and done, Maeda had struck out a season-high 12 batters while allowing only two hits in 6.2 innings.

On the other side of the ball, Freeland got help from his defense in the sixth, including a diving play into the stands by Desmond and a typical Arenado play. Freeland would get the first out of seventh before giving up a double and being pulled.

It was Freeland’s sixth consecutive quality start.

The bats went quietly, first to Scott Alexander in the eighth and Kenley Jansen in the ninth, though Trevor Story lined a single and stole a base.

Final score: Rockies 0, Dodgers 3.

The Rockies drop to 26-24, but maintain a .5 game lead in the NL West. The Dodgers improve to 22-27.

Final Stats

Kyle Freeland: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R (3 ER), 3 K, 3 BB

Adam Ottavino: 0.2 IP, , 0 R, DP

Brooks Pounders: 1 IP, 0 R

Ian Desmond: 1-for-3, K

David Dahl: 1-for-4, 2 K

Nolan Arenado: 0-for-3, BB, 3 K

What’s next

The Rockies take Thursday off before beginning a nine-game homestand with three-game sets against the Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants and a rematch with the Dodgers, respectively. On Friday, Jon Gray will try to bounce back after not reaching the fifth inning in his last start. Cincinnati will counter with Sal Romano, the six-foot-five, 270-pound right-hander, who is currently 2-5 with a 5.62 ERA. First pitch is 6:40 Mountain time.