So it won’t be easy, or pretty, as the Dodgers try to wrap up the National League West.
Against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday, there were missed scoring chances by the inning, some lousy baserunning, misbegotten throws, an error, a wild pitch and several umpire calls that went against them.
There was also a 10-4 loss at Coors Field, ending the Dodgers’ three-game win streak and not making any headway on their magic number.
The Dodgers got their first home run from Yasiel Puig since July 31 (146 at-bats) and it all it did was cut the final margin by a pair of runs in the ninth.
The Dodgers continued their recent offensive output in terms of hits, they just couldn’t turn them into many runs. The Dodgers out hit the Rockies 16-9, but they were just three for 14 with runners in scoring position.
Things started going wrong in a hurry for the Dodgers. Right-hander Dan Haren started his own trouble by giving up a leadoff walk to Charlie Blackmon and single to Josh Rutledge in the first that should have put runners on the corners.
But Puig mistakenly threw to third, though he had no shot, and Rutledge took second on the throw. A Justin Morneau groundout scored Blackmon and a wild pitch between the legs of catcher A.J. Ellis allowed Rutledge to score.
Colorado added one more in the third after catcher Michael McKenry led off with the double, took second on a fly to right and scored on a D.J. LeMahieu groundout to second.
The Rockies made it a 5-0 lead in the fourth when Drew Stubbs singled and Corey Dickerson simply crushed a two-run homer.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers were struggling to get to rookie Tyler Matzek. The left-hander out of Capistrano Valley High came in 5-10 on the season, but had gone 3-1 with a 1.23 earned-run average in his last four starts.
The Dodgers could collect their hits against Matzek, they just had difficulty scoring. Opportunities were wasted most of the night. They failed to score after getting leadoff singles in the fourth and fifth.
They finally got on the board after two more leadoff hits, from Matt Kemp and Scott Van Slyke, in the sixth, but they still couldn’t do much damage. Justin Turner, who started when Hanley Ramirez was a late scratch with a sore elbow, doubled in both runners.
But when Juan Uribe sent a fly to deep center, Turner prepared to tag. The ball sailed over the glove of Stubbs, and despite there being no outs, third base coach Lorenzo Bundy waved Turner home.
Rutledge took the relay and fired home, where Turner was out by several feet. The Dodgers ended up loading the bases with two outs after a walk to Ellis and a Dee Gordon infield single.
Puig worked Matzek to a full count, but was called out on a third strike he and the Dodgers were certain was low. The wind seemed out of the Dodgers’ fluttering sails.
The Rockies, though, kept rolling. With the bases loaded, Charlie Culberson hit a tapper up the first-base line. Reliever Brandon League fielded the ball, but his underhanded throw hit Culberson in the back for what was ruled as an error on League, as two runs scored.
Dickerson tripled in two more runs in the eighth off Jamey Wright, and this time it was the Rockies enjoying the rout. McKenry singled in another run off Yimi Garcia in the eighth.
Haren (13-11) went five innings for the Dodgers, giving up five runs on four hits and a walk.
Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times
