Blue-collar baseball gave the Rockies a 5-3 victory over the Dodgers this afternoon at Coors Field.
A workmanlike performance from starter Glendon Rusch, timely hitting and four innings of shutout pitching by the bullpen allowed the Rockies to take two out of three from the Dodgers and clinch the series.
The Rockies have won six of seven since the all-star break, moving to 13 games under .500 (45-58). That’s not saying much, but it’s the closest to even they’ve been since June 23.
Relievers Jason Grilli, Manuel Corpas, Taylor Buchholz and closer Brian Fuentes quieted the Dodgers’ bats, allowing Rusch to win his third straight game.
Fuentes picked up his 102nd career save, tying Jose Jimenez for franchise record.
It was up to Buchholz to pull off the great escape act in the eighth.
A crucial mental error by veteran center fielder Scott Podsednik nearly turned into a Dodgers’ rally in the eighth. Jeff Kent drew a one-out walk off Buchholz and moved to third on James Loney’s single to center. Posednik, thinking he could nail Kent, threw the ball to third base, allowing Loney to take second. It was a huge blunder and Posednik knew it, hanging his head after the ill-advised throw.
But Buchholz escaped, striking out Andruw Jones and Andy LaRoche to end the threat.
Though Rusch’s performance lacked the power and pizzazz of Ubaldo Jimenez’s complete game Tuesday night, the 33-year-old left-hander gave the Rockies a solid, professional start. He pitched five innings, giving up three runs on seven hits, departing with a 5-3 lead.
Colorado scored two runs in the first. Podsednik led off with a hustling double, moved to third on Jeff Baker’s infield single and scored on Matt Holliday’s base hit to right. Baker scored on Garrett Atkins’ infield groundout.
The Dodgers scored two in the second on RBI-singles by LaRoche and Danny Ardoin, the former Rockies catcher.
The Rockies pushed across three runs in the third to take a 5-2 lead. Baker, continuing to swing a hot bat, led off with a triple then scored on a bizarre double by Holliday. Holliday hit a liner off the glove of Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda and the ball dribbled into shallow left field. Holliday, running all the way, took second base easily. Holliday scored on Brad Hawpe’s double into the right-field corner. Ian Stewart, his bat blazing since his call-up from Triple-A, drove in Hawpe with a single through the box.
Jones, breaking out of his season-long slump for a moment, doubled in Loney for the Dodgers’ third run in the fourth.
Next up for the Rockies is a critical 10-game, three-city road trip that begins Friday in Cincinnati, then moves on to Pittsburgh and Florida. The Rockies’ 14-36 road record is the worst in the majors.
“We have not played very well on the road, but we have worked very hard to close that gap,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “We were able to do it last year, especially in the last part of the season, so we know we can do it. It comes down to execution – pure and simple. We have not executed well on the road.”
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
