Recap: Kershaw And Dodgers Turn In Complete Effort In Win Over Rockies
Kershaw threw a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the third, capped off by collecting his second strikeout of the game. After the Dodgers did nothing with a Rollins two-out walk, fourth-inning trouble again haunted Kershaw.
Troy Tulowitzki hit a leadoff single past a diving Kendrick and it was followed by Nolan Arenado’s two-run home run on a 3-1 pitch to tie the game. Kershaw locked back in to retire the next three batters faced.
After ending the fourth by coming charging in to take care of a foul out just off home plate, Kershaw led off the fifth with a double that sailed over Ynoa’s head in left field. Kyle Kendrick then benefitted from Tulowitzki being positioned perfectly in a shift as he fielded Pederson’s grounder hit squarely up the middle.
Turner flied out to center, forcing Kershaw to again hold at second base and Gonzalez was intentionally walked. The Rockies won the Kendrick-Kendrick matchup as Howie flied out to the warning track in right field to end the inning.
Kershaw picked up two strikeouts in a scoreless fifth and the game remained tied at 2-2. The Dodgers had their leadoff man reach on an extra-base hit for a second consecutive inning, this time on Ethier’s triple down the right field line.
With the Rockies infield playing in, Hernandez poked a single up the middle that scored Ethier and gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. Rollins dropped a blooper into left field to give the Dodgers two on with no outs, but they appeared to lose some momentum when Hernandez was picked off second base.
Ellis grounded to Arenado’s left with Rollins running on the pitch and he briefly distracted the Rockies’ third baseman by faking towards third base, which resulted in Arenado’s throw pulling Wilin Rosario off first base. Kershaw squared around to bunt only to pull back and slap an RBI single to left field that extended the Dodgers’ lead to 4-2. It gave Kershaw his first career three-hit game.
Christian Friedrich was brought on to face Pederson, who cleared the bases with a three-run home run to center field. The home run was Pederson’s second in as many games off a left-hander; Sunday’s was the first of the season when facing a lefty.
The Dodgers’ rally continued with consecutive singles by Gonzalez and Kendrick, with the latter scoring Turner and giving the Dodgers an 8-2 lead. The six runs tied for the most scored by the Dodgers in one inning this seeason.
After watching his team bat around, Kershaw issued a one-out walk but also collected two more strikeouts as he kept the Dodgers’ lead intact. After the Dodgers were retired in order in the seventh, Kendrick helped his pitcher out by making a backhanded stop and throw from shallow center field for the first out in the bottom of the seventh.
Kendrick nearly made a second consecutive impressive play, but his throw was a hair late and Barnes had an infield single after the Rockies successfully challenged the out call. The overturned call didn’t make much of a difference as Kershaw knocked a comebacker down by spinning his glove behind his back and throwing to first and he ended the inning by freezing pinch-hitter Michael McKenry with a curveball for strike three.
Christian Bergman took over for the Rockies in the eighth and promptly gave up a leadoff single to Turner. Gonzalez quickly put Bergman in a bit of trouble by following with a ground-rule double. David Huff was handed the ball in the bottom of the eighth and allowed the Rockies to put a pair of runs on the board.
Blackmon and LeMahieu hit back-to-back singles and a run scored on Tulowitzki’s grounder that resulted in a force out at second base. Arenado’s base hit put runners on the corners with one out for Rosario, who singled off the right-center field wall. While Rosario drove a run in to cut the Rockies’ deficit to 11-4, he was thrown out trying to stretch the base hit to a double.
Huff capitalized on the break and stranded Arenado by striking out Nick Hundley on a high fastball. Ellis’ leadoff single in the ninth gave all Dodger starters a hit in the game and pinch-hitter Alberto Callaspo followed his second hit as a Dodger.
Bergman then proceeded to strikeout Pederson and Turner before walking pinch-hitter Yasmani Grandal to load the bases. The Rockies reliever escaped the jam by getting Kendrick to ground out. J.P. Howell tossed a scoreless ninth inning to wrap up the Dodgers’ 11-4 win.
[divide]Clayton Kershaw Brushes Aside 100th Career Win
