Los Angeles Dodgers @ Colorado Rockies (9/18/20) — Final: LAD 15, COL 6

[rexkap]

Everyone in the lineup records a hit as the Los Angeles Dodgers score their season high and dominate the Colorado Rockies, 15-6.

He was hit hard, but Ryan Castellani pitched a spotless frame to start the game. Given the task of being opener for the Dodgers’ bullpen day, Alex Wood erased Trevor Story’s bloop single by picking him off to face the minimum. Castellani walked Max Muncy to start the second, and Cody Bellinger smashed a low changeup for a two-run shot, getting LA on the board first. For Bellinger, that homer was monumentally uplifting. His smile as he rounded 3rd base displayed this. Edwin Ríos subsequently legged out a double, and Gavin Lux’s two-run shot traveled 453 feet, doubled the Dodgers lead to 4-0. Wood went back out for the bottom half of the second, and a pair of singles set up Josh Fuentes’ three-run laser that got the Rockies right back in the game, 4-3. Wood managed to end the inning without any further damage. Castellani pitched a spotless frame in the top of the third, and Raimel Tapia reached on an infield-chooper to begin the bottom half. Brusdar Graterol relieved Wood, and worked a trio of ground-balls to get out of the inning. Bellinger, AJ Pollock, and Ríos all made loud outs in the fourth, and Graterol got the first out of Colorado’s half before allowing a single. Adam Kolarek, called upon for the lefty-lefty matchups, got the final two outs of the inning. Castellani walked Austin Barnes and Mookie Betts with one-out in the fifth, and Corey Seager reached on an error to load the bases. Chris Taylor ripped a base hit, scoring a pair and forcing Castellani out of the game. Muncy and Bellinger then pulled back-to-back singles through the ride side to give LA a commanding 8-3 advantage, and Pollock’s knock added another. Ríos grounded into an inning-ending double-play, and Kolarek got the first two outs of the home half with ease. Dylan Floro got the third, and Betts went deep in the sixth. Seager reached on an infield single prior to Taylor’s RBI double, making it 11-3 Dodgers. Floro erased a leadoff single with a double-play in the home frame; however, David Dahl lined a two-run triple after a pair of knocks. Jake McGee was unable to strand Dahl, allowing a hit that pulled the Rockies within five, 11-6. Bellinger, continuing his outstanding day, doubled to leadoff LA’s half, and Ríos scored him with an opposite-field single. Barnes also singled in the frame, and Betts drove him and Ríos home on a triple that gave the Dodgers two touchdowns. Their 15th run came on Seager’s RBI knock. Joe Kelly set Colorado down in order on eighth pitches in their half. After a quiet half offensively, LA prospect Mitch White worked a brief frame to end the eighth. Lux and Barnes singled in the ninth, but were left stranded. White pitched another quick frame to end the ballgame.

The boys in blue painlessly swing their way to another win and get everyone in on the action, taking advantage of the hitter-friendly Coors Field. Tomorrow, they’ll look to clinch the series victory with the back half of this four-game set beginning. Clayton Kershaw, 5-2 with a 2.28 ERA, looks to build off of yet another very strong outing, although his last one was wasted by the bullpen. Chi Chi Gonzalez, 0-1 with an ERA of 8.68, gets the ball for the Rockies, hoping to turnaround his atrocious season. 5:10pm start. Go Dodgers!