ROCKIES MELT DOWN IN NINTH INNING
A ROCKIES VICTORY BLOWS UP IN A FIVE-RUN L.A. NINTH
The Rockies, a day after they were stymied Saturday by a gem of an outing from Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda, put a three-game series on the line at Coors Field, trailing the National League West leaders by 1½ games.
And plenty changed over nine wild innings. The Rockies trailed by six runs in the early going, then scored nine straight runs, then threw it all away in a five-run ninth for a gut-busting 12-10 loss to the Dodgers in front of 35,962 moonstruck fans in Lower Downtown. What a Sunday.
“What a game,” said Adrian Gonzalez, L.A.’s veteran first baseman. “What a game.”
It was, for a minute, a classic Coors Field comeback, complete with plastered pitching, busted bullpens and wind-whipped hits. Gerardo Parra, the Rockies’ first-year left fielder, was in line to be the hero, going 4for-5 at the plate with four RBIs, including a two-run single in the eighth.
But games are never complete at 5,280 feet until they yank out the bases and lock the gates. After the Rockies scored five runs in the eighth, the Dodgers clobbered Colorado closer Jake McGee for five of their own in the ninth — although it might have been just one run allowed, and a 10-8 Colorado victory, if not for a blown chance at a game-ending double play by Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, who had trouble corralling the ball. Corey Seager’s RBI double capped the L.A. barrage for a tworun lead.
The last time the Rockies overcame a six-run deficit was way back in … August. They trailed the New York Mets 7-1 last season, then
Walt Weiss flashed a new pair of purple kicks in the Rockies’ dugout early Sunday morning. Something had to be done. “We got no-hit for six innings,” the manager said, “I had to change my shoes.”
tied that score 8-8, then lost 14-9.
Wacky is the word at the park they call The Keg.
“For a second, we thought we had ’em,” Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez said.
Sunday’s first and second innings looked like a dart board in a dive bar. Rockies starter Jordan Lyles at one stretch threw nine consecutive balls — and 17 of 21 outside the zone. He walked the bases loaded on 16 pitches in the first but somehow squeaked by without a run. In the second, though, Lyles walked the leadoff batter, Joc Pederson, then immediately gave up an RBI double to outfielder Trayce Thompson.
It devolved from there. Pitcher Alex Wood knocked in a run. Seager walked. Yasiel Puig hit a tworun double to left field. The Dodgers pounced on Lyles for four runs in the second.
It got worse. Pederson nailed a solo homer in the third. Wood and Chase Utley singled, and Lyles left. But his relief, Chris Rusin, allowed a two-run triple to Seager. And the Dodgers led 7-1 after three.
“I’m not sure where to point the finger in my delivery,” Lyles said. “Just too many missed fastballs. … Too many walks.”
But Colorado rallied, sending eight to the plate in the fourth. Parra doubled in a run. Dustin Garneau singled in another. And Rusin’s bunt single scored DJ LeMahieu. The Rockies were whittling away their deficit. And when Brandon Barnes lined a ball to deep right, at least two runs were poised to score — but Puig leaped at the warning track, crashed into the wall, fell to the dirt, and showed the ball for a lead-preserving catch.
The fun continued in a pivotal sixth. The Rockies reached base with their first four batters. But with the bases loaded and no outs, Ben Paulsen struck out, and Barnes and Story flied out.
The Rockies could have trailed by 10. And yet, by the seventh, the Rockies could have led by two. What a Sunday.
“We had an opportunity in the — I can’t even remember what inning it was anymore,” Weiss said.
It still wasn’t over. Rusin settled in. He gave up just one hit in 3L innings. Justin Miller and Boone Logan kept the Dodgers scoreless for two more innings. L.A. went 18 batters without a hit before the ninth.
And in the eighth, the game appeared to break open. The Rockies hit around. Garneau doubled to lead off and Ryan Raburn pinchhit in a run. Three batters later, Carlos Gonzalez hit a liner to right field, but the ball skimmed under Puig’s glove — the same Puig who twice made highlight-reel plays to wreck the Rockies this series. His error put Gonzalez on third.
And after Parra hit a two-run single, the Rockies capped their nine-run rally for a three-run lead.
“I felt happy. The game changed. That was a great moment,” Parra said. “I had to think we made a win.”
But the Dodgers did the same to the Rockies in the ninth. Puig flied out to end the inning.
“Those things will happen in certain games,” McGee said. “But today, everything kind of happened at once.”
In a half-inning, the Rockies went from trailing L.A. by half a game to losing the series and falling to 9-9. What a Sunday. “I’m thinking we’re gonna win that game,” Weiss said. “Absolutely. We scored five in the eighth. We battled back from 7-1 early. Kept chipping away. Put ourselves in position to win.
“That’s a tough one.”