LOS ANGELES — Things happen in Dodger Stadium that don’t occur anywhere else.
Before the game, rapper Snoop Dogg threw out the first pitch. He spent the first few innings signing autographs before giving away his seats behind home plate to young kids. Snoop was once the neighbor of former Dodgers manager Jim Tracy. Hard to imagine those two sipping gin and juice at a block party.
But again, in this place, in this city, anything is possible — except a perfect Rockies’ road trip. A remarkable Rockies journey through D.C. and L.A. ended with a 3-1 defeat to the Dodgers today.
There was little to gripe about it, save for a fourth-inning error by Ian Stewart. Manny Ramirez capitalized on that mistake by stealing second — pause for Boston Red Sox fans to faint — and scoring on James Loney’s single. Andre Either delivered a go-ahead single in the fifth and Loney homered off Luis Vizcaino in the seventh, continuing the reliever’s issues against left-handers.
It was that type of game, where the margin was narrow because of solid pitching. Jorge De La Rosa matched Derek Lowe in a stare down, allowing just one earned run in six innings. He’s pitched well in back-to-back games, justifying the decision to put him back in the rotation ahead of Glendon Rusch.
A strong finish to this season by De La Rosa would go a long way in convincing the Rockies to keep him as a fifth starter candidate next season.
As good as De La Rosa was, Lowe (10-10) was better. Against a lineup that enjoys facing him, particularly Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe, the left-hander surrendered just one run before turning the game over to the bullpen.
The Rockies’ lone score came in the first when Holliday plated Clint Barmes with a sacrifice fly. Struggling closer Jonathan Broxton struck out Troy Tulowitzki with a runner on third base as the Dodgers avoided the sweep.
Tulowitzki reacted with disbelief, tossing his bat in the air after missing on a high fastball.
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
