by Rowan Kavner
The ball can fly out at Coors Field. Rarely does it fly out for a single.
It was that kind of day for the reigning champions on Opening Day in Colorado. The Dodgers outhit the Rockies 15–11 and got another eight runners on base via walk but managed only five runs, committed two errors and left 14 runners on base in a wacky 8–5 defeat Thursday afternoon.
Their first run of the season came on what should have been Cody Bellinger’s first home run of the year. With Justin Turner on first base, Bellinger hit a deep drive to left field that cleared the fence after hitting off Raimel Tapia’s glove. Turner thought the ball was caught, and no signal was immediately made. He retreated, sprinting back to first base so he wouldn’t get doubled up, crossing paths with Bellinger between first and second base in the process.
Instead of a two-run homer, it went down as an RBI single for Bellinger, who was then ruled out for passing Turner on the bases. Manager Dave Roberts said there was no blame to be placed anywhere on that play.
“It’s just one of those funky plays that I don’t think is going to happen again this year,” Roberts said.
The other gaffes were less forgivable on a night an error and two wild pitches led to three Colorado runs — ultimately the difference in the game.
Through three innings, Rockies pitcher German Marquez had allowed six hits and four walks. Clayton Kershaw had allowed four hits and no walks. Yet the Rockies led. The Dodgers finished the afternoon 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position.
“I think just today, honestly, we didn’t play a good baseball game,” Roberts said. “I think all the way around, we didn’t play well. We gave away too many bases. I thought the at-bat quality was good, but all the other parts of the game weren’t clean.”
One of the Dodgers’ three hits with runners in scoring position came in the fifth inning from Gavin Lux on a two-out RBI single to bring in Bellinger and tie the game. But the Rockies consistently had an answer.
In the fifth, Colorado scored on an RBI groundout and doubled its lead when a two-out grounder went under the glove of shortstop Corey Seager. Kershaw only allowed one extra-base hit on the day, but the Rockies consistently put the ball in play against the veteran left-hander, who allowed 10 hits and only got five swings and misses.
“I thought the curveball was good,” Roberts said. “I thought the fastball was fine. But his pitch is the slider, and it didn’t have that bite, that depth that it typically does.”
Opening Day had typically been a day of dominance for Kershaw.
He has started on Opening Day more times than any Dodger pitcher and entered with the lowest all-time ERA in season openers (1.05). But an aggressive Rockies team struck early in counts, forcing him out after 77 pitches. He allowed six runs (five earned) in 5 2/3 innings.
“Wasn’t great,” Kershaw said.
He assisted in different ways. Kershaw helped the Dodgers tie the game in the sixth inning, scoring on a sacrifice fly. He finished the day 2-for-3 at the plate and is now a .373 career hitter at Coors Field.
But that wasn’t enough to ignite the offense of the Dodgers, who dropped their season opener for just the third time in the last 14 seasons after a near comeback fell short.
The Rockies struck for two runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, including two runs on two wild pitches by Jimmy Nelson. The Dodgers got a run back in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Seager to make it 8–5.
In the ninth, the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out, putting the winning run at the plate. Roberts liked the matchup of Matt Beaty against the high velocity of Daniel Bard over Zach McKinstry, who had doubled in his first at-bat. Beaty struck out. A Mookie Betts lineout extinguished the Dodgers’ final threat.
“With baseball, it’s a long season,” Roberts said. “There are going to be some games like this where the rhythm, it just wasn’t clean. You’re going to have games like this. But still, at the end of the day, we had the tying run at first. But our club, for the most part, doesn’t have too many games like this.”
Quick Hits:
- Austin Barnes left the game after an attempt to tag CJ Cron at home plate on one of Nelson’s wild pitches. Roberts said after the game Barnes’ throwing hand was spiked and cut up, but he expects Barnes to be fine to catch Saturday.
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