LOS ANGELES — The Colorado Rockies have the worst record in the National League. But they aren’t pushovers.
The Dodgers found that out this week. For the third consecutive game, the Rockies made an early Dodgers’ lead disappear, forcing the Dodgers to put together a game-winning rally in the eighth inning capped by Mookie Betts’ go-ahead RBI single to beat them, 4-3, on Wednesday night.
The Dodgers took two of three in the series but all three games were one-run decisions, including the Dodgers’ first extra-inning game of the season on Monday.
“I think that catching a lead, letting teams hang around and kind of nip their way back, and then you kind of leave it for chance – we did that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “And to those guys’ credit – they’re young, they’re excitable, they want to make their mark, so they’re competing. But yeah, we did that. Didn’t feel great, but you know, fortunately, we won a series, But that’s not the way you want to do it.”
Making his first major-league start (second appearance), the 10th pick in the 2022 MLB draft, right-hander Gabriel Hughes got off to a shaky start.
He gave up a one-out single to Tommy Edman and a double to Freddie Freeman. Back-to-back walks forced in a run and Kyle Tucker drove in two more with a two-out single sliced to left field.
Hughes struck out Alex Call – who burned both of the Dodgers’ two allotted ABS challenges on unsuccessful attempts to reverse calls in the at-bat – to end the inning.
Hughes is a quick learner – he got his degree in biology from Gonzaga in just three years. He course-corrected after that rough first inning and struck out five of the next seven Dodger batters after Tucker’s single and retired 15 in a row before the Dodgers had another hit.
By then, the Rockies had erased the three-run getaway in a mixed bag of a start from Roki Sasaki.
Sasaki came in on a four-start stretch during which he had a 10.66 ERA, was hit for a .300 average and completed five innings just once with questions raised about whether he was tipping pitches.
This was better than that. He made it through six innings and retired the last nine batters he faced.
But he also gave up solo home runs to Kyle Karros and Edouard Julien in the second inning and walked the No. 9 hitter, Brett Sullivan, to start the third inning. A wild pitch, a ground out and a sacrifice fly turned that into the tying run.
It looked like Sasaki’s night might go further south when he gave up a single to TJ Rumfield to start the fourth inning and Karros bounced a double down the third-base line. But Sasaki struck out Troy Johnston and Julien, then got Ezequiel Tovar to fly out. He didn’t give up another hit in his six innings.
“It was good to see him just bow his neck and go compete,” Roberts said. “He had given up three runs at that point, and there was some stress, and second and third, nobody out, and he found a way to get some punchouts and a fly ball, and get out of that inning. And you can see the demeanor walking off the mound, the confidence.”
Sasaki walked off with a 5.33 ERA for the first half of the season with the Dodgers left to point at his May performance (a 3.18 ERA in five starts) for signs of progress.
“When you look at the numbers, I’m not satisfied with that,” Sasaki said through his interpreter. “But I was able to keep (in) the rotation and the velocity has kind of gotten a little bit up. So I’m kind of happy with it.”
Roberts acknowledged the “inconsistent” character of Sasaki’s first half and acknowledged there is “room for growth.”
“Certainly, the month of May was fantastic,” Roberts said. “I think he’s just continuing to get better and to learn himself. … I think there’s improvement. I do think that from the outset of the season to as we sit here on July 8, he’s a grade and a half better than what he was when he started the season.”
The Dodgers’ bullpen kept the score tied in the eighth inning despite a throwing error by third baseman Max Muncy and a double by Jake McCarthy to start the inning and an intentional walk to load the bases with one out. Alex Vesia and Edgardo Henriquez combined to strand all three.
In the bottom of the inning, the Dodgers didn’t waste their opportunity. Singles by Edman and Freeman put runners at the corners with one out against Rockies reliever Antonio Senzatela. Betts fell behind in the count, 1-and-2, but fouled off three pitches, worked the count full and stroked the ninth pitch of the at-bat into center field to drive in the go-ahead run.
“I was just trying to drive it to start,” Betts said. “And once I got down, I don’t know, I just had this calmness, to just kind of relax. Can’t force it. You can’t hit a bad pitch. You still have to get something decent to get the job done. And I think kind of relaxing actually helped me a lot.”
There wasn’t a whole lot of calmness or that kind of confidence to Betts’ game for the first couple of months of the season. But he has turned things around since mid-June.
“He’s got some confidence again,” Roberts said. “He feels good where he’s at physically. … I’m happy with what he’s done over the last month. And he’s come a ways.”