Shaw's blunder costs Rockies second game in LA

It looked for a moment like the Colorado Rockies might steal the second game, and therefore the series, in similar fashion to their 2-1 victory in the first game, but the key play went against them in a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Colorado got what turned out to be a solid outing from starter Chad Bettis but his early workload meant needing more from a bullpen that faltered once again on this road trip.

Bettis wasn’t sharp to start the game, unable to find the outside edge of the strike zone with his fastball, falling into deep counts that would result in a ground-rule double off the bat of Justin Turner, an RBI single for Matt Kemp, a double to Cody Bellinger and a bases-loaded walk to Yasiel Puig, putting Colorado down 2-0.

Bellinger’s double might have been handled at first by Ian Desmond if not for him getting caught in between on a hop, but anytime you walk in a run, that’s on the pitcher. Bettis was able to escape any further damage from the jam by getting a fly out from Logan Forsythe.

Desmond made up for his defensive blunder in the second with his eighth home run of the year, a line drive shot deep over the wall in left.

The Rockies pulled even in the third with three straight two-out singles from Charlie Blackmon, Gerardo Parra, and Nolan Arenado.

The scoring stopped until the Rockies stole a run to take the lead in the sixth. Trevor Story walked to lead off the inning, stole second, and advanced to third on a ball in the dirt. It was his eighth stolen base on the year and the 15th consecutive successful swipe by the Rockies, three shy of the franchise record.

Desmond delivered again with a one-out single through a pulled-in infield to give the Rockies a 3-2 lead.

It was short-lived, however, as struggling reliever Bryan Shaw came on to replace Bettis in the sixth and was immediately knocked around the park, giving up a single to Kemp and back-to-back no-doubt home runs to Chris Taylor and Puig, giving the Dodgers a 5-3 advantage.

Why Shaw decided to throw sliders on those two pitches, going away from his cutter that seemed to be working is unknown, but it’s not likely to be a mistake he repeats.

A one-out double from Chris Iannetta in the ninth would give the Rockies a chance to tie it, but David Dahl ground out to second and Pat Valaika struck out to end it.

Colorado falls to 26-23 but with Arizona losing remains atop the standings in the NL West.

Final Stats:

Chad Bettis: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

Bryan Shaw: 1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER

Mike Dunn: 1 IP, 1 K

Chris Rusin: 1 IP, 1 K

Ian Desmond: 2-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (8)

Gerardo Parra: 2-for-4

Nolan Arenado: 1-for-4, RBI

Trevor Story: 0-for-3, 1 R, BB, SB (8)

What’s Next:

The series is up for grabs on Wednesday night as Kyle Freeland will take on Kenta Maeda. First pitch at 8:10 Mountain Time.