Rockies offense stays stuck in the mud, Dodgers dominate at Coors again

It was a new day but the same story for the Colorado Rockies who still can’t buy a big hit and remain winless at home, dropping a 7-2 contest against the Los Angeles Dodgers that at the same time felt closer than that throughout much of the game but also about right for where the two teams are at right now.

Walker Buehler pitched very well and plenty of credit goes to him, but the Rockies offense continues to look lost and searching.

Jon Gray pitched better than his final line would indicate but the Dodgers offense was just in too much of a groove to be held in check all night.

He navigated the early innings, showing poise where last year he showed frustration, inducing double plays in each of the first three innings.

The Dodgers broke the scoreless tie in the fourth.

Gray plunked Justin Turner with one out on a fastball that got away from him. Cody Bellinger followed by ripping a double to right field to put runners at second and third.

Gray made a good pitch to A.J. Pollock but the new Dodgers outfielder managed to muscle it just over the infield to plate the first run of the game. Max Muncy was then able to score another with a sac fly to left but Gray didn’t let the inning get away from him, setting it down without further incident.

David Dahl answered immediately for the Rockies launching a no-doubt home run on a screaming line drive that landed well over the wall in right, 445 feet from home plate.

It was only the second hit of the game for Colorado, both belonging to Dahl.

The 2-1 score held until the top of the sixth when the hottest hitter in baseball, Bellinger, was at it again.

After a single from Turner, he hammered a line drive into the left-center field gap, not only scoring another run but also putting himself on third for a potential sacrifice.

And that’s exactly what happened in the ensuing encounter with Pollock, giving the Dodgers a 4-1 lead.

Gray stayed in for the first batter of the seventh, Alex Verdugo, who lifted one over the high fence in right and into the Rockies bullpen to give the Dodgers a 5-1 lead.

Colorado had opportunities to rally but could not string together an inning of hits and, other than Dahl, the entire lineup remains in a funk.

Their final chance came in the bottom of the eighth which began with the MLB debut of Josh Fuentes, who pulled a hard single between the third baseman and shortstop for the first hit of his big league career. Blackmon followed with a four-pitch walk but Story lined out to center and Arenado popped up on the infield.

Dahl was able to salvage the situation slightly by recording his third hit of the game, a single to left that scored Fuentes, but Ian Desmond struck out to put an end to the threat.

But even that momentary respite wouldn’t last long as the Dodgers struck again in the ninth, plating a pair of insurance runs against reliever Harrison Musgrave to make it 7-2.

And that was the final in another frustrating one for the boys in purple.

Final Stats

Jon Gray: 6 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

DJ Johnson: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Mike Dunn: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Seunghwan Oh: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Harrison Musgrave:

 

David Dahl: 3-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI