The Rockies are ready to be free of Clayton Kershaw.
They’ve been ensnared by his arching curveball and deft precision for the better part of two decades. The end is finally near, the head-to-head matchups numbered, whether the future Hall of Famer retires after this season or waits another year.
But his latest showing at Coors Field was a reminder that even when he’s imperfect, he can still usually command a game just long enough to lead the Dodgers across the finish line against their lesser division opponent. That’s how it’s been almost his entire 18-year career, and that’s how it was Thursday afternoon in Colorado’s 9-5 loss.
“Obviously, he’s one of the best of all time,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He threw a lot of sliders today. Stayed off our barrel. He knows what he’s doing. We hit a lot of ground balls. He just limited damage. He’s good at that.”
Kershaw gave up three earned runs in 5 2/3 innings, earning his 29th career win vs. the Rockies — his most against any opponent — in 52 starts. He has only pitched more games and innings against the Giants.
“It’s a great win today,” Kershaw said. “You can’t take anything for granted in Colorado.”
With a walk and a two-run homer from Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles took a 2-0 lead two batters into the game and never relinquished it. Rockies starter Chase Dollander, in his third start since returning from a mid-season demotion to the minors, struggled opposite Kershaw. He allowed seven runs on nine hits, failing to pitch a scoreless inning and failing to finish the fourth.
“Even in the rough outings, there’s good things that you can take out of it to move forward,” Schaeffer said in defense of the 23-year-old, whose ERA dipped to 6.91. “I mean, not everything he did out there was bad today. … You have to take the good. You have to take the not-so-good.”
Even with the loss, Colorado managed to split the four-game set with the defending World Series champs, who are clawing for first-place status in the National League West. The Rockies (37-91) will depart on a six-game road trip having won seven of their last 10. They’re still five wins away from eluding the dreaded “worst team in modern baseball history” label.
Kershaw, who entered Thursday with a 0.96 ERA in his last five starts against Colorado, recorded the first two outs in the sixth inning with an 8-2 lead before the Rockies applied some pressure. Brenton Doyle’s RBI single convinced Dave Roberts to go to his bullpen, eliciting a standing ovation from the partisan Dodgers crowd as Kershaw, 37, walked to the dugout.
Soon the Rockies had the potential tying run in the on-deck circle, down 8-3. But Kyle Farmer popped out to center field to strand the bases loaded and end the threat.
“I felt pretty good about (my stuff) today,” Kershaw said. “… I should’ve gotten through six. Just can’t walk that guy with two outs and nobody on. But when you look back at it, hopefully it’s like, six (innings) and two (runs) is what I was going for. I would’ve taken that. So obviously a little frustrating way to end it.”
“He was just getting in good leverage counts against guys,” Doyle said. “Getting ahead early and working off of that.”
Doyle’s impressive afternoon also included a 442-foot blast that reached the left-field concourse — “I didn’t realize how far it went,” he said — plus a run-scoring sacrifice fly and a run-saving catch. The center fielder wrapped up a 7-for-14, seven-RBI series at the plate, epitomizing the overall positive outlook of his team’s recent production.
“We’re starting to play a brand of baseball that we should’ve been playing from the start,” he said. “Post-All-Star break, the games have been way more competitive. Series have been a lot better.”
After powering their way to their first two runs, the Dodgers dinked and dunked Dollander for another pair in the second. Miguel Rojas drove in a run with a beautifully placed bunt single down the first-base line. Then Dollander got within a strike of escaping the inning without further damage, only to plunk Will Smith with the bases loaded.
Los Angeles scored one more in the third, two in the fourth and one in the fifth — an Andy Pages home run on the first pitch of the inning from Rockies reliever Nick Anderson.
Three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani took the day off after a line drive struck him in the leg Wednesday night during his pitching appearance. And Rockies first basemen Warming Bernabel was a last-minute scratch from the lineup for precautionary reasons, the team said, after he was hit in the face by a throw during pregame infield drills.
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