Dodgers 6, Rockies 3:
Los Angeles grabs first in NL West from Colorado
Second consecutive loss for Rockies in Los Angeles after 6-0 start on road.
los angeles» Adrian Gonzalez, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first baseman, played in 159 games last season and stole one base. He’s not very fast. But he doesn’t need to steal bases. Nothing about his game is gradual.
He has hits in more than half his at-bats this season. And his eight doubles heading into Saturday night’s game against Colorado led the major leagues. He doubled twice against the Rockies on Friday. He walked into second both times.
The Rockies might have considered walking Gonzalez on Saturday for the second game of their series — if he didn’t come up twice with the bases load.
Gonzalez didn’t double again at Dodger Stadium, but he did break the game open. His long, two-run single to center field in the fifth inning pushed the Dodgers far enough ahead to withstand a Rockies rally, leading them to a 6-3 victory.
The Dodgers (8-3) won a second game against the Rockies (7-4) to take over first place in the National League West. In April, with the Rockies in the middle of a 25-game stretch against division opponents, it’s too early to eye the standings too intensely. But it’s not too early to measure the competition.
“We talk about winning the series,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said before the game. “If we can continue to win series, we’ll be in the hunt.”
They lost a series Saturday. The Rockies, in two losses so far at Los Angeles, are every bit in contention against the defending division champs. But they have fallen short both times.
Gonzalez is hitting a baseballbest .523. But Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu is secondbest at .463.
LeMahieu’s two-run home run in the seventh inning — with two outs and a full count against Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke — pulled the Rockies within 4-3.
The Rockies, though, let the Dodgers extend their lead in the bottom half of the inning as righty reliever Brooks Brown gave up run-scoring doubles to Yasiel Puig and Howie Kendrick. Those were Brown’s first earned runs allowed since August of last year, a span of 14 innings.
The Rockies jumped out early when Troy Tulowitzki singled to bring home Charlie Blackmon, who had doubled to open the game.
Colorado starter Jordan Lyles was stingy early on, allowing just an RBI single to Yasmani Grandal and a run-scoring groundout to Gonzalez.
But Lyles walked the bases loaded in the fifth before Gonzalez hit a long single just past Charlie Blackmon, who dived outstretched in the dirt of the warning track but just missed the catch to make it 4-1 Dodgers.
Greinke also pitched into trouble, but he wriggled out. After walking Carlos Gonzalez in the third, Greinke threw two wild pitches to Tulowitzki that pushed Gonzalez to third base. But, with the score tied, Tulowitzki’s sharp grounder turned into an out from Juan Uribe at the hot corner.
Greinke owns the National League West. The Dodgers’ subace behind Clayton Kershaw is now 20-1 in the division since joining the Dodgers in 2013.
And the Dodgers’ bullpen is every bit the match for the Rockies’ relievers this season. In their last 17L innings pitched, L.A.’s relievers have struck out 25, allowing one earned run for a 0.52 ERA.