Dodgers defeat the Rockies 7-2, move to 7-2.
A 7-2 win over the Rockies makes the Dodgers 7-2 on the season. They remain at the top of the division with a four-game win streak.
The win went to Walker Buehler, the loss went to Jon Gray, and the save went to Kenly Jansen.
Offense Breakdown
Dave Roberts went with a left-handed heavy lineup to face the right-hander, Jon Gray.
Tonight's Dodger lineup at Rockies:
Pederson LF
Seager SS
Turner 3B
Bellinger 1B
Pollock CF
Muncy 2B
Verdugo RF
Barnes C
Buehler P#Dodgers | @Biofreeze pic.twitter.com/uirOH283Gr— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 6, 2019
The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when A.J. Pollock singled to drive in Justin Turner. Max Muncy followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
Cody Bellinger continued to rake as he went 2-4 with two runs scored and an RBI-triple. Following his triple in the sixth inning, Pollock hit a sacrifice fly to bring him in and give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead.
No homer? @Cody_Bellinger will settle for a triple. pic.twitter.com/8Ccu2tpKRY
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 7, 2019
Alex Verdugo hit a solo home run in the seventh inning, which now makes it eight straight games with a home run for the Dodgers.
No chance that ball will Volver, Volver. pic.twitter.com/YFh9zDK3yO
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 7, 2019
Verdugo had another big hit in the ninth inning as he tripled to drive in Max Muncy to make the score 6-2. That was followed with a sacrifice fly by Austin Barnes which extended the Dodgers’ lead to five runs.
The offense is good, and they continued to show it this game. No matter who is in the lineup, the team is producing. Is it too early to award hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc the NL MVP award?
Pitching Breakdown
Walker Buehler made his second start of the season and it was much better than his first start. He went five innings, allowing one run on three hits while striking out four and walking two. The only run he allowed came on a high fastball that most players wouldn’t catch up to, but David Dahl didn’t miss it.
Homers in back-to-back games for Dahl! pic.twitter.com/9Fo4KdMaSN
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 7, 2019
Pedro Baez came in to pitch the sixth inning and continued to cement his legacy as one of the best relievers in baseball history pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout. Yimi Garcia relieved Baez in the seventh and pitched a perfect inning.
The eighth inning took four relievers to get through it. Garia started the inning but was removed after allowing a single to Josh Fuentes. Caleb Ferguson was brought in to face Charlie Blackmon but walked him on four pitches. With runners on first and second, Roberts turned to Dylan Floro, who got Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado out before allowing an RBI-single to Dahl, which cut the Dodgers lead to three. With runners back on first and second, Kenley Jansen came in to pitch. Jansen struck out Ian Desmond on five pitches.
In the ninth, Jansen allowed a leadoff double to Mark Reynolds. He ended up stranding Reynolds at third base by striking out Garrett Hampson.
FINAL: #Dodgers 7, Rockies 2 pic.twitter.com/L2yDVuclr7
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 7, 2019
What’s Next?
The Dodgers will finish the series and look for the sweep against the Rockies tomorrow, April 7 at 1:10 p.m. Left-hander Julio Urias will be on the mound for the Dodgers while right-hander Chad Bettis will start for the Rockies.
Enjoying Verdugo’s enthusiasm as he shows his talent. Buehler will get better as he did not have a traditional Spring warm up. Very glad for Barnes as so far his off season work has paid off. AJ Pollock is another contact hitter that the Dodgers have desperately needed.
I agree with many of the commenters on Dodger Nation if the Dodgers are serious about the WS they should sign Kimbrel as the bullpen looks to be the weak link. Now they could try bringing up Sborz or Allie but so far this has not been an impressive Bull Pen start.
Kimbrel is a great reliever. But I think we are best served by passing him by. He would never be totally sold on being a set up guy. And Kenley would be looking over his shoulder. Not fair to him. We have a strong batch of relievers if we look a little harder. Ferguson, Floro, Baez are solid. Kelly will be OK. And we have Urias, Stripling, possibly Maeda moving in and out of relieving. And Gonsolin and May will see time this year more than likely. So being 7 and 2; we should stay the course. Build from within. Its working.
If they are going to limit Urias’ innings then he should stay in the bullpen. With his talent he could be setup or occasional closer. With that in mind we really wouldn’t need Kimbrel. Save that money and roster spot for whoever we need at the trade deadline.
Daniel………I agree with you………we can solve this problem from within our farm system………no Kimbrel required. Let’s try Sanatana, let’s try May…….let’s try anyone of our own guys they measure has the mindset for the job.
Hello bluz1st. As of my posting here the Dodgers recalled Dennis Santana for BP help but not known who goes out.
I like the fact that Roberts removed the 3 pitchers who let the first guy get on. If you can’t get the first guy out, go back and practice some more. It’s the most important part of your job.
Charley………Exactly!……….I have been bemoaning our leaky bullpen for two seasons……….BUT……..Roberts compounds the problem……..he has his favorites (like Baez)……..he leaves him in for multiple batters no matter what the outcome……..but then others he pulls them out even when they are actually mowing people down…….drives me crazy…….
It’s why I and many others believe he just is not to adept at managing the pitching staff.. The problem I see is that Roberts MUST get more length from the SP’s and not be so quick to limit them to 5 innings if they are still going well, and thereby using 5 or 6 relievers a night. That won’t get the job done in the long run IMHO.
Lost in the box score……..Did anyone besides me see JT’s last at bat? He was called out on strikes by the ump, but the pitch was a FOOT outside! I am not an advocate of electronic balls and strikes, but sometimes you can see why people want it. The human element when pitches are close make the cat and mouse game between hitter and pitcher what it is. But incompetent umps give the electronic argument a ton of traction.
It was 7-2 in the 9th, the umpire had been holding in a shit for hours
LOL, but probably true!!!!!!!!!
LOL
Now Colorado has to face Urias………trying to stop from getting swept is going to be double tough for them today. I love it! Bury them early, bury them often. I like the Rocks, especially Arenado & Blackmon……..but I despise Drew Goodman and his biased play by play style, so every time the Dodgers beat the Rockies, I know somewhere Goodman is having a bad day!
bluz1st, I saw Turner’s last at-bat which he was called out by the ump, which wasn’t a strike. I don’t want the human element taken out of the game, but that last strike was rough. Pertaining to Pederson, last night 0-4, 2 strike-outs, so he’s hitless(0-9 overall)I in the games since being benched, he was used as PH in two of the games vs. Giants. He should be starting tonight, Rockies Bettis is a RHP. I hope Pederson wakes-up as the Dodgers head to St.Louis for 4-games.
Hi Robin!. Yea that one was tough….it was not even close…..good thing the game was not tight and the call not crucial. Had I been Turner, I would have been thrown out of the game for going all “Billy Martin” on that guy.
LOL, I’m old enough(50yrs.old) to remember Billy Martin(with the Yankees) in the late 70’s.
Blake, you can’t be serious about Pedro Baez being a top not reliever for the Dodgers or any team in baseball. You better go back and look at his stats over the past five years. He can’t get tough hitters out especially in big games, either walks or give up big hits that have hurt us over the past years. Only last year and that was in the back half of the season his number improve. Loot at the stat of inherited runners and see how many hits or runs he allowed. This didn’t hurt his ERA but it costs of so many games I’ve lost count. He may average 94-95 on his fast ball but it has no movement and hitters know that which is one reason they tee off on him. He is lucky to be on the staff and Roberts knows he is not the guy to put down others hitters when the game is on the line as history has shown. If Friedman has any brains which I doubt, he would have traded him long ago and got someone who gets hitters out. Not only is Baez a unreliable reliever in big games, look at his numbers when pitching against weak teams compared to teams over 500 over the past seasons. I watch every game and he leaves me pissed off so many times I’ve lost count. I’ll sleep better when he’s gone. I played in the Dodger farm system for 4 years and I know what I’m talking about.
Denny
Denny………FYI……..Roberts LOVES Baez. He actually believes Baez is a great pitcher. Is that lip service? Maybe…….but I have him heard him say it many many times as he has defended his (Baez’s) constant failures the last three years. Just sayin……….
Bluz1st, concur totally and Roberts is just plain stubborn about this issue with Baez. But you watch and he most likely puts Baez AGAIN out there in tonight’s game. BTW, it was Roberts who took shots at us fans when I believe it was in 2017 that Baez was actually booed off the field after another horrific outing
Denny….as for the article writers opinion of Baez………….isn’t that why Blake has a line drawn through that sentence? Am I missing something here? I thought the writer was being sarcastic.
Well a 7 to 2 win and a 7 and 2 start is nothing to sneeze at. Honestly, how many here think that if the BP was not a big tank job in the ealier games that we could have been 9 and 0?
So far the 2019 HR tracker:
Dodgers 22 Which leads the NL
Opponents 16 And because of only 2 or 3 teams in the NL who allowed more, it’s a good thing we did hit these 22 so far because if not, as one can see we may not have a 7 and 2 record..
Bluz1st Your right on. Roberts has rarely shown the command he needs to make personnel changes with our bullpen. So many writers say we are strong but look at the stats closely which I’m sure you have. We have 3 very weak guys in the pen with Stewart leading the way. Garica has tanked every time he comes in and Baez cannot be trusted when the game is on the line. Don’t understand why Roberts keeps going to him but if you remember at the end of last season when we were in a dogfight for the lead, he didn’t go to him except to rest the other arms or if the game was decided one way or the other. This is Roberts weak link and he hasn’t changed since he’s been the manager. I have heard from some contacts in the organization that some of this is coming down from the front office as to who they want in a game. If so, why do we need a manager. Friedman can just suit up and save some money. It’s not something that we can verify but interesting thought and imagine if it were true.
Denny