Flip the script: Colorado Rockies swept in Los Angeles

Baseball is a maddening sport.

The Colorado Rockies, who started their season an unpredictable 6-0 on the road were flying high as they landed in Los Angeles for a weekend series against the Dodgers. When they left, however, they couldn’t have been lower. The Rockies had the favor returned to them on Sunday, as the Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the Rockies, allowing reality to set in for a team that is good, but has some work to do.

Make no mistake, this was going to be no walk in the park for the Rockies. They faced the best regular season pitcher that has been seen in this generation on Friday in Clayton Kershaw, then had to face Zack Grienke, another top 10 Major League pitcher on Saturday. Both of those games ended predictably. Sunday was the game that got away.

Momentum finally swung the Rockies way when Eddie Butler was able to wiggle out of a bases loaded jam with Adrian Gonzalez at the plate. Instead of nibbling at the strike zone, Butler attacked the hottest hitter in the National League and got him to work under a 0-2 fastball, popping out in foul territory to Mike McKenry.

With the Rockies getting a boost from Butler to end the Dodgers 5th inning, they were down 2-0 in the top of the 6th inning and had their chance to break through. Rafael Ynoa had pinch hit for Butler to lead off the inning and drew a walk. Charlie Blackmon followed with a single to left field that pushed Ynoa to third base. With no one out and runners on first and third, the Rockies had Carlos Gonzalez at the plate and Troy Tulowitzki on deck. Suddenly the Rockies were in business.

It didn’t go as expected, however. Gonzalez, who has looked bad at the plate throughout the team’s road trip, popped a 0-2 pitch up to the shortstop, not getting it far enough to allow Ynoa to score. Next, Tulowitzki had a chance to at least get the Rockies on the board and within a run. He worked a very good at-bat, fouling off three pitches. On the 7th pitch of the at-bat, however, Tulo did exactly the worst thing that he could have done. He bounced into a double play, ending the inning.

If the end wasn’t in doubt after that sequence, the Dodgers made sure that no one thought the Rockies would win. After the Rockies failed to capitalize, the Dodgers took advantage of rookie reliever Scott Oberg. Howie Kendrick blasted a home run to lead off the inning, then after a walk to Andre Ethier, Scott Van Slyke homered, then Joc Pederson homered, giving the Dodgers four extra runs before Oberg could record an out.

It was done. The Rockies had to play out the final innings, but the result wasn’t in doubt.

What Sunday showed the Rockies was exactly where they need to be if they are going to go from being a respectable team to being a very good team. The Dodgers made the Rockies look like the junior varsity squad. Part of the process of becoming a good team is going to be taking the lumps that come from the teams that have established themselves as elite.

For the Rockies, the question from the weekend will be how they react to the losses. Will this burst the bubble of the great start that the team had, or will it propel them to realize where they are deficient and help them to get better? The Rockies are certainly not in the same category as the Dodgers at this point, but they need to grow to that level. They need to take a look at the other dugout and see what it takes to be a contender.

The Dodgers pitch well, which is easier to do with a quarter billion dollar payroll, but they also hit better situationally. Great teams know how to swing the momentum in their favor. The Dodgers saw the Rockies miss their opportunity in the 5th inning and they pounced all over it. When the Rockies didn’t take advantage of that inning, the Dodgers piled on and effectively ended the game. That is what great teams do.

For the Rockies, this shouldn’t completely deflate their excitement from their early success. They still have a team that can surprise people. They have the talent to be a team that is making noise late in the season. They need to take the series sweep over the weekend and learn from it and try to grow and get better. If they do that, they will be headed in the right direction. If, however, they let it take the wind from their sails, they could quickly fall back to the bottom of the NL West and another season could be wasted.