Colorado Rockies become first team in 2020 to take a series from the Dodgers

For the first time in 2020, the Los Angeles Dodgers have lost a series.

The Colorado Rockies came out on top in a slugfest of a baseball game that saw both teams trade haymakers before the dust settled on a 7-6 win for the visitors.

No lead was long-lived. Every run scoring play was answered. Every mistake mattered. Every extra 90 feet mattered.

It was a total team effort. The best game of the season. And potentially a huge momentum change in their season.

Moment of the Game: Welcome Home, Matt Kemp

Newcomer Kevin Pillar, who has been a positive factor in every game he has played so far for Colorado, led off the eighth with a screaming single right back up the middle. And he stood in awe at the moment with the rest of us as one of the best Dodgers of the last decade delivered a body blow to his old team.

Matt Kemp, who was floundering in the possibility of not playing any baseball this season after being cut by the Miami Marlins, launched his fourth homer of the season and 285th of his career. Only three have come against the Dodgers. He went down and got a good breaking ball from lefty Caleb Furgeson and lofted it just over the wall in left to give the Rockies a 7-6 lead.

Early Rallies

In his very first at-bat after the huge ninth-inning double in the bottom of the ninth of game two, Fuentes blasted a high fastball deep to left for a no-doubter. His first home run of the season went for two runs as Matt Kemp had recorded the 1,800th hit of his career on a single to left in front of him.

Hampson got the rally going with a beautiful bunt single down the third base line in which he was safe by five feet. He stole second with relative ease despite several throws over, showcasing in quick succession just how valuable his elite speed. He got to show it off one more time when Raimel Tapia slapped a single to left. What might’ve been a close play for most runners was decidedly not for Hampson who slid in well safe to put the Rockies ahead 3-2.

On the play, Tapia showed off his own wheels by sprinting safely into second. Those 90 feet ended up critical when he was able to advance on a deep flyball out from Trevor Story and score on a single to left off the bat of Nolan Arenado to put Colorado on top 4-2.

Pillar led off the fifth with a rare walk, his first with his new club. He made a good baserunning play to stay out of a double play on a grounder to short and scored on a triple from Hampson that just barely stayed in the yard.

Battlin’ Castellani

In just the seventh start of his career, and his first time under the bright lights of LA, Castellani battled his ass off. He was by no means dominant but he came out from the get-go determined to limit the mistakes. He mixed all of his pitches almost equally and had three bad misses on fastballs, two homers for Cory Seager and one for Will Smith, but he fought.

He fought a tough strike zone all night, Smith should have been called out on strikes just before his homer hack. He fought the best lineup in baseball, besting the likes of Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy to keep his team in the game.

He gave up four runs and only lasted 4.1 innings but Colorado needed every pitch that Castellani threw in this one.

Diamond Details

• Charlie Blackmon began the fourth inning by making one of his best defensive plays in recent memory. He raced to his left to cut off a low liner, slid to make the grab and in one motion hopped to his feet and fired a perfect throw to second to nail A.J. Pollock.

What’s Next

The Rockies are off for a three-game set in San Diego against the Padres. They send Kyle Freeland to the hill in the first game Monday night. He will be looking to put his two-inning performance last time out against these guys firmly in the rear-view mirror. First pitch at 7:10 Mountain Time.