Kemp, Dodgers take advantage of Rockies' bullpen, avoid sweep

Hunting for the sweep against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Colorado Rockies were not able to resort to the methods that got them their first two wins of the series on Sunday afternoon. The bullpen, which worked only one inning in both of the previous two games, assumed control of the game in the fourth. They paced with the Dodgers staff until the eighth but were ultimately undone by a big game from Matt Kemp.

Where Tyler Anderson and German Marquez put up back-to-back eight-inning performances to secure the first two victories, game three’s starter Chad Bettis exited after the third inning with a hot spot (or, developing blister) on his right middle finger. It is the second time this season he has had issues with developing hot spots.

In his short start, Bettis recorded twos all around: runs allowed, hits, walks and strikeouts. Early on he had issues locating, hitting Chris Taylor in a 3-2 count with a pitch in the first Dodgers plate appearance of the game and following that with a four-pitch walk to Max Muncy. But, he limited damage, keeping Los Angeles hitless in four at-bats with runners in scoring position.

The two runs against Bettis came off the bat of Matt Kemp, via a groundout in the first and a double in the third.

Bettis’s opposite, Ross Stripling, came into the game with a 1.98 ERA, second only to the Mets’ Jacob DeGrom. The Rockies were unphased, recording hits in each of the first three innings and eight hits through the first five, tallying four runs by that point.

Colorado got on the board in the second when Ian Desmond drove in Carlos Gonzalez with a well-placed groundout to first baseman Cody Bellinger. The play also advanced Trevor Story to third base with one out, poising the Rockies for more offense. But after Raimel Tapia walked in his first plate appearance of the season, Tom Murphy and Bettis both struck out to end the frame.

They tacked on two more in the third thanks to a Nolan Arenado ground out that plated DJ LeMahieu and a Story ground-rule double.

In the fifth, Arenado reached out for a low curveball from Stripling, muscling it over the center field fence for his NL-leading 21st home run on the season and putting Colorado up 4-2.

The lead didn’t hold, however, as the Rockies’ struggling bullpen came into play. Chris Rusin pitched around a Joc Pederson double in the fourth in his first inning of work but yielded two runs in the fifth to tie the game, with Matt Kemp notching his third RBI of the game.

Rusin was relieved in the sixth after allowing a bunt single to Austin Barnes, who was nullified on a caught stealing with a strong throw from Murphy.

The score held at 4-4 until the eighth, when Kemp continued his assault on the Rockies, launching an Adam Ottavino mistake out to center, his 14th of the season. It was Kemp’s fourth RBI on the day.

The Dodgers tallied again on a Pederson infield single, where Puig raced home after starting the play at second base. Ottavino exited after giving up his fourth hit in an uncharacteristic outing for him.

Kenley Jansen locked down the save, and Los Angeles dodged the sweep with a 6-4 win.

After sniffing .500, the Rockies fall to 41-43. They are now five games back in the National League wild-card race.

Final Stats

Chad Bettis: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 2 K

Chris Rusin: 2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R (1 ER), BB, 2 K

Scott Oberg: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K

Adam Ottavino: .1 IP, 4 H, 2 R (2 ER), K

Mike Dunn: .2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER

Nolan Arenado: 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, BB

Trevor Story: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI

Ian Desmond: 1-for-4, RBI

Raimel Tapia (Season Debut): 0-for-3, BB

What’s Next

The Rockies return to Coors Field tomorrow to start a three game set with the San Francisco Giants. Kyle Freeland will look to continue his hot streak of pitching, opposing Madison Bumgarner. First pitch is at 6:40 p.m.