Try as they might, the Rockies can’t shake their Dodger blues.
On a chilly Wednesday night – when scoreboard-watching became a game unto itself and playoff implications rode on every pitch – the Dodgers rallied to beat the Rockies 6-4.
“This was a very gratifying win for this organization,” said Dodgers starter and winning pitcher Derek Lowe (16-8). “We’ve been through it all, and here we are with four games left with a chance to make the playoffs. I think it’s a testament to everybody in there that we have been able to do that.”
The Dodgers’ win, combined with San Diego’s 4-2 loss to St. Louis, moved them within one game of the Padres in the National League West. Los Angeles maintained its one-game lead over Philadelphia in the wild-card race. The Phillies beat Washington 8-7 in 14 innings.
Resilient is an appropriate word to pin on the Dodgers. They overcame injuries to key players such as Nomar Garcia- parra and Jeff Kent. They survived losing 13 of 14 immediately after the all-star break. They lost two of three last week at home to Pittsburgh. Yet here they are, winners of five of their past six, on the verge of playing meaningful games in October.
The Dodgers battered the Rockies nearly every time the teams hooked up this season, but they needed a three-run seventh inning off Rockies starter Aaron Cook to escape Wednesday.
A leadoff triple by Marlon Anderson, run-scoring singles by pinch-hitter Andre Ethier and Garciaparra and a run-scoring triple by Kent once again turned the Rockies into the Dodgers’ whipping boy. Wednesday marked the 14th time in 18 games the Dodgers beat the Rockies. The only other season the Rockies lost more times to a single team was in 2002 when they were 4-15 against Arizona.
“There are matchups like this in all professional sports,” Todd Helton said. “But they find a way to beat us and they have done it all year. They went through that long losing streak, but they made all of the right moves. This whole thing is frustrating and disappointing, but you just go out and play hard and see what happens.”
Cook pitched superbly for five innings, his only mistake a 456-foot solo home run by Wilson Betemit in the third. But Cook started to run out of gas in the sixth, giving up two runs on three hits. The key blow was J.D. Drew’s two-run triple to deep center that scored Kenny Lofton and Garciaparra. The triple gave Drew a career-best 95 RBIs.
Cook’s final line in his final start of the season: 6 2/3 innings, six runs on 11 hits.
“I felt like I threw pretty well tonight, but I wish I could have ended the season a little bit better,” said Cook, who finished the season 9-15 with a 4.23 ERA. “But I feel strong and I’m glad I made it through the season healthy.”
The heart of the Rockies’ order did its best to drive a stake through the Dodgers’ playoff hopes. Garrett Atkins went 3-for-4 with an RBI double, Matt Holliday was 2-for-4 with a double and a run-scoring single and Helton had a run-scoring single.
Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
