Dodgers rally to top Brewers after getting bruised early

LOS ANGELES — On a night the Dodgers needed to duck for cover, they still had enough composure to rally for a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday.

Starter Emmet Sheehan took a line drive off the right arm, pinch hitter Miguel Rojas took a pitch off his right leg, while the bullpen coughed up a run for the first time in 12 games and yet the Dodgers were able to hide the pain with a four-run seventh inning.

Helping to make it all easier to bear was the return of Kiké Hernandez, who made his season debut following offseason elbow surgery and ripped an RBI double during his first at-bat in the third inning.

But the offense stalled against Rockies right-hander Tanner Gordon, who was making his first start of the season after seven appearances in long relief. Gordon looked nothing like the pitcher who gave up seven runs on 12 hits in a 6 1/3-inning relief appearance last week.

The Dodgers finally broke free in the seventh inning against the Rockies’ bullpen.

Mookie Betts tied the score 3-3 on a sacrifice fly and Freddie Freeman delivered a go-ahead RBI double off the right-field wall. Andy Pages supplied an insurance run with a single to center.

Sheehan looked like he would never escape the fourth inning, first when he was hit by a Troy Johnston line drive and then when the Rockies scored twice after he took the nearly 104-mph liner off his biceps.

Sheehan remained in the game but only to give up an RBI single to Willi Castro and a sacrifice fly from Ezequiel Tovar to put the Rockies up 2-1.

Sheehan was able to go six innings, allowing two runs on five hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. He was replaced by right-hander Kyle Hurt in the seventh when Tovar hit a home run to give Colorado a 3-1 advantage.

The run ended the bullpen’s run of 38 consecutive innings without allowing a run, which was a modern-day record for the franchise.

The offense helped remove the sting in the seventh. Will Smith and Hyeseong Kim opened with walks against Juan Mejia. Dalton Rushing batted for Hernandez, but Rojas replaced Rushing when the Rockies went to left-hander Brennan Bernardino.

Rojas was hit by Bernardino’s third pitch to load the bases. Ohtani brought home the first run of the inning, while bringing the Dodgers within 3-2 when he beat out a potential double-play grounder. Betts, Freeman and Pages followed with their RBI hits.

After Hurt gave up a run, Will Klein, Alex Vesia and Blake Treinen closed out the victory. Hurt (1-0) ended up with his first career win, while Treinen recorded his first save of the season.

(Visited 2 times, 2 visits today)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *