The Rockies’ margin for error is always razor-thin. When they face the mighty Dodgers, it’s pretty much nonexistent.
Exhibit A: an excruciating 2-1 loss to the Dodgers on Thursday night in Los Angeles.
Reliever Daniel Bard, who’s struggled with walks much of the season, issued a bases-loaded walk to Max Muncy in the eighth inning to force in the go-ahead run.
L.A.’s game-turning rally began when reliever Tommy Doyle issued an ill-advised leadoff walk to pinch-hitter David Peralta and then gave up a one-out single to Mookie Betts.
Manager Bud Black turned to Bard, who promptly walked the dangerous Freddie Freeman to fill the bases. When shortstop Ezequiel Tovar made a sensational, over-the-shoulder catch in shallow left field to rob pinch-hitter Will Smith of a base hit, it looked as if the Rockies would escape. But Bard walked Muncy on five pitches.
Colorado got a terrific start from lefty Ty Blach but fell to 20-40 on the road. The Dodgers, who are threatening to run away with the National League West title, won their fifth consecutive game.
The Dodgers improved to 5-1 against the Rockies this season and 15-9 in their last 24 games. Since 2018, L.A. owns a 63-29 record against Colorado, the most
wins by a National League team against any other team during that span.
“It was a hard-fought game on both sides,” manager Bud Black told reporters in Los Angeles. ” ‘Bardo’ has had a little bit of an issue with the base on balls all year. We haven’t quite got him to the point where he is consistently pounding the strike zone over the course of multiple outings. The strikeout is in there, but the walk has been his nemesis, and it came out tonight, against a guy (Muncy) that walks.”
Bard, who began the season on the injured list as he dealt with anxiety, was excellent early on, posting a 0.79 ERA with 19 walks and 21 strikeouts over his first 22 appearances through June 19. But in 19 appearances since then, he has a 7.00 ERA. Most disconcerting, over his last 18 innings, he’s walked 18 and struck out 18.
Entering the night, it was a foregone conclusion that a left-handed starter would dominate Thursday night’s game. As it turns out, two southpaws put on a show.
The obvious star was Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers’ future Hall of Famer, who gave up one run on three hits over five innings. Kershaw came off the injured list to make his first start since July 3. He’s been dealing with left shoulder soreness.
Kershaw’s one mistake was leaving a belt-high slider over the plate in the fifth that Elehuris Montero blasted into the left-field seats for a 1-0 Colorado lead.
The less likely ace of the night was Blach, Colorado’s journeyman. He pitched six-plus innings of one-run ball. He allowed just three hits and induced 10 outs via ground balls, including double plays in the first and sixth. His one costly mistake came in the seventh when Muncy led off with a homer to right, lifting an 89.8 mph sinker over the right-field wall to tie the game, 1-1.
“Some of my best games have come against (Kershaw), but unfortunately, we just couldn’t quite pull it off tonight,” Blach told reporters, who added that he still felt strong when Black decided to lift him in the seventh.
Added Black: “Ty is a pitcher’s pitcher and he knows his game. He doesn’t waver from what he does. He’s making pitches and it’s great to see. Ty is seizing this opportunity and he’s keeping us in games and doing his part.”
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