Rockies third straight collapse leads to series sweep for Dodgers

DENVER – The Colorado Rockies bullpen just can’t get the job done right now.

In an eerie repeat of the first two games in this series, Colorado took an early lead, saw some fight from their offense all day, but labored in the final innings with the bullpen surrendering five runs to finish off one of the more frustrating losses in recent memory for the team from Denver.

They led 4-0. They led 6-1. They lost by a score of 10-7.

For the third straight game, the Rockies offense came out hot. The first three hitters, DJ LeMahieu, Charlie Blackmon, and Nolan Arenado, each threw out singles, the latter of which brought in the first run of the game. Then Trevor Story recorded Colorado’s first out of the game on a flyball to center that scored Blackmon for the second run.

With Arenado still aboard, Ian Desmond smashed his 10th home run of the season on a deep, 459 foot drive over the wall in center field, making it 4-0, Rockies.

The Dodgers got one back on a solo home run to left off the bat of Max Muncy in the second.

But Colorado kept the pressure on, with a little help from some wildness on the part of Alex Wood.

It started with the big no-no of walking the pitcher. LeMahieu followed Bettis’ walk with one of his own and Blackmon lined a single to left to load the bases.

After Wood struck out Arenado with a well-placed change-up and got up 1-2 on Story, he was a strike away from escaping the jam without allowing any runs. But a breaking pitch ran in on Story and plunked him on the foot to bring in his second RBI of the game despite that he didn’t have an official at-bat.

Desmond then put together a nice at-bat, working the count full and fouling off a tough one before drawing a bases-loaded walk to make it 6-1, Rockies.

As has been the case all series, the Dodgers would not go away. Chris Taylor began the third inning with a single and Matt Kemp came through with another after Bettis had put two outs in the books. It looked like the Rockies starter had Muncy beat several times in the ensuing at-bat, but the lefty first baseman kept fighting off pitches until he finally found one to handle on the 11th offering.

He blasted it into the second deck in right field, and just like the Dodgers the half-frame before, the Rockies were one strike away from a zero-run inning that turned into a big one. Still, Colorado held the 6-4 advantage.

But, just like with the first two games in the series, the very moment the game was handed over to the bullpen, the Dodgers pulled in front. Bettis recorded two outs in the sixth but gave up a double to Yasiel Puig, prompting Bud Black to go to Chris Rusin. Rusin got squeezed a bit, walking Enrique Hernandez in his only matchup.

Then Scott Oberg came on and got ahead on Logan Forsythe who managed to go down to a knee to lift a soft liner into center field, bringing LA to within one. Still ahead, Oberg induced a groundball to short but the normally surehanded Story unleashed a tough sinking throw that Ryan McMahon was unable to dig out at first. Two runs came in and just like that the Dodgers took a 7-6 lead.

But the God of Errors would giveth after having taketh away. Arenado came up with a two-out single in the seventh. Then, for some reason, reliever Brock Stewart became concerned with the slowest player on the Rockies roster and uncorked a wild pickoff attempt that allowed Arendo to get all the way to third.

When Desmond hit a grounder to second, it looked like that play would go down as an inconsequential embarrassment, but Forsythe bobbled the ball and Desmond reached base with the game, somehow, tied at seven runs apiece.

But even the Rockies best reliever so far in 2018 couldn’t give any respite from the recent issues. Wade Davis came on with the game tied in the ninth and immediately gave up a double to Forsythe. He struck out Cody Bellinger but walked Taylor then unleashed a wild pitch, allowing both runners to advance.

After a long battle with Justin Turner, Davis got a weak grounder just up the first baseline that he elected to field himself, but there wasn’t time to get the runner at the plate so he had to settle for recording the second out. It completely unraveled when Yasmani Grandal smashed a homer to center field in the next at-bat.

Final Score: Dodgers, 10, Rockies 7

Colorado falls to 30-29 and sit in second place, a game-and-a-half back of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West.

Final Stats:

Chad Bettis: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 6 K

Chris Rusin: 0.0 IP, BB

Scott Oberg: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER

Jake McGee: 1 IP, 1 K

Ian Desmond: 1-for-3, 1 R, 3 RBI, HR (10)

Charlie Blackmon: 2-for-5, 1 R

Nolan Arenado: 2-for-5, 2 R, RBI

DJ LeMahieu: 1-for-3, 2 R, BB

Trevor Story: 1-for-2, 2 RBI

What’s Next:

The Rockies hit the road for a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds that beings on Tuesday after a day off. The first game will see Kyle Freeland face off against Anthony Desclafani.