Noah Spirek | @NoahSpirek | June 19, 2024
On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for seven runs in the 9th en route to a huge comeback victory over the Colorado Rockies.
Table of Contents
Game Story
In contrast to Monday’s ballgame, the Rockies scored early and often last night. In the first inning, they quickly took control, scoring four runs. The first four batters all reached base, with Ezequiel Tovar doubling home Charlie Blackmon, and Ryan McMahon driving in Doyle and Tovar with another double. McMahon eventually scored on a Nolan Jones sacrifice fly, giving the Rockies a 4-0 lead.
The Dodgers scored in the 2nd on an Andy Pages solo home run, but the Rockies responded in the bottom of the inning with an Elehuris Montero two-run bomb. His fourth of the season traveled 410 feet and increased the Rockies lead to 6-1.
Los Angeles got a run back in the 3rd, as a Chris Taylor triple was followed by a Shohei Ohtani RBI groundout.
However, the Rockies answered back yet again in the 4th, when Brenton Doyle demolished a hanging curveball from Walker Buehler 427 feet into the left field bleachers. The solo homer was one of Doyle’s four hits on the night, a career high.
After a couple of zeros from both sides in the 5th, Shohei Ohtani cut the Rockies lead to 7-3 in the 6th. The best player in baseball clubbed a solo homer 476 feet, the longest blast in Major League Baseball this season. Ohtani’s 20th home run of the year tied him with Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna for the most home runs in the National League.
The Rockies countered immediately in the bottom half of the 6th. After Alan Trejo walked and Elehuris Montero singled, Brenton Doyle continued his stellar night with an RBI single to left, extending the Rockies lead to 8-3.
In the 7th, the Dodgers threatened to really close the gap. Colorado starter Austin Gomber struck out the first two batters of the inning, but then gave up a walk to Enrique Hernández followed by a Miguel Vargas RBI double, which ended Gomber’s night.
Jalen Beeks came on in relief and immediately issued a walk to Chris Taylor, putting runners on first and second for Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani then hit a missile to center field, but Brenton Doyle made a Herculean effort with a diving catch to somehow snag it.
The Rockies answered the Dodgers 7th inning run with one of their own. After Nolan Jones walked and advanced to third on a Hunter Goodman single, Jake Cave brought Jones in with a sacrifice fly. The score held in the 8th, and Colorado entered the 9th inning with a 9-4 advantage.
Unfortunately, it was not enough.
Bud Black brought in Rockies closer Tyler Kinley to secure the save, but he struggled, managing to record only one out. After walking Andy Pages and Miguel Vargas, with a strikeout and a Miguel Rojas single sandwiched in between, Kinley faced pinch hitter Jason Heyward with the bases loaded. In a lengthy at-bat, Heyward launched a 2-2 slider off the right field foul pole for a grand slam, cutting the Rockies’ lead from 9-4 to a precarious 9-8.
The ninth inning Dodger onslaught continued, even after Victor Vodnik replaced Kinley after the grand slam. Vodnik gave up a single to Shohei Ohtani, but then struck out Will Smith for the 26th out. Unfortunately, the 27th out proved elusive.
After a wild pitch moved Ohtani to second, the Rockies decided to intentionally walk Freddie Freeman and face Teoscar Hernández. Behind in the count 1-2, Hernández appeared to swing and miss at a fastball, but 1B Umpire Lanace Barksdale ruled it a check swing, despite video evidence showing a clear swing by Hernández.
Rockies Manager Bud Black was ejected as a result of the missed call, and several Rockies players were visibly upset with the call, most notably outfielder Jake Cave.
The next pitch? A three-run homer into the Rockies bullpen. The Dodgers had taken an 11-9 ninth inning lead by scoring seven times in the final frame, which ended up being the final score in Tuesday night’s ballgame.
Quotes
Manager Bud Black on the check swing: “I saw a swing… I thought he went.”
Bud Black on the deflating loss: “It was a tough one for sure. We’ve had some tough ones. We’ve shown some resiliency coming back, but this was a tough one in a lot of ways… We couldn’t close the door even though I thought we did with the ‘strikeout’ of Hernández.”
Bud Black on Austin Gomber: “All four pitches [were] effective. He got outs with all of them. Efficient. He threw six innings, 75 pitches. He threw a lot of strikes, landed breaking balls, a few good changeups, located the fastball… He pitched really well.”
Bud Black on Jake Cave’s display of emotion: “Every player has got to be himself. Jake plays with a lot of passion. There’s a high level of care, even for a short time as a Rockie. He’s a player with a great deal of competitive fire. And that’s who he is. He was upset. And that’s fine with me because that’s who he is. He wasn’t the only guy who was upset.”
Jake Cave on controversial call: “Yeah I’m pissed. Kind of lost my mind on him (umpire Lance Barksdale) a little bit. Got a little more mad when he looked at me and said that it ‘wasn’t even close’ because then you’re not taking any accountability for basically screwing us over.”
Notes
Tuesday’s game was the sixth time the Colorado Rockies entered the 9th inning with a lead and allowed 5+ runs in the 9th inning (or later) to lose the lead. No team had ever done that more than four times in a single season in baseball history, while the Rockies have six instances now in their first 73 games of 2024.
Brenton Doyle logged a career-high four hits, marking the sixth time a Rockie had four hits in a game this season. He also snapped his 95 at-bat homerless streak with his blast in the fourth inning, the longest home run drought of his career.
Tuesday’s game featured the first time the Dodgers overcame a deficit of five or more in the ninth or later since July 18, 1957.
What’s Next for the Colorado Rockies?
Colorado continues their 10-game homestand on Wednesday, as the Dodgers and Rockies will play Game 3 of 4 in the series. The probable starting pitcher for Los Angeles has not been announced at the time of writing this article, but the Rockies will send RHP Ryan Feltner (1-6, 5.71 ERA) to the bump. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:40 MT.
Story by Noah Spirek.
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