Charlie Blackmon, center, celebrates his two-run home run off Clayton Kershaw in the fifth inning Friday at Los Angeles. (Jae C. Hong, The Associated Press)
LOS ANGELES — Charlie Blackmon went to deep water with Clayton Kershaw in the fifth inning Friday at Dodger Stadium. And the Rockies leadoff hitter came out on top.
But Blackmon’s at-bat — a nine-pitch affair with two outs and the Rockies trailing 4-1 — wasn’t ideal. According to Blackmon.
Even though he homered on a 95-mph fastball in a full count — a smashed hit pulled to the right field bleachers to cut the Dodgers’ lead to one — Blackmon left a little dissatisfied.
“Looking back at it, had I been a little bit better, I would have had Ball Four go by without check-swinging at it,” Blackmon said. “So a little bit of bad baseball went in my favor.”
Here’s Blackmon vs. Kershaw in the fifth inning:
1. 94-mph fastball … Bunted foul
2. 74 curveball … Ball
3. 74 curveball … Ball
4. 94 fastball … Ball
5. 94 fastball … Swinging Strike
6. 94 fastball … Foul
7. 88 slider … Foul
8. 94 fastball … Foul
9. 95 fastball … Home run
The pitch that Blackmon wanted back, though, was the fifth. Kershaw’s pitch went high and Blackmon checked his swing. An appeal went to third-base ump Tim Welke, who called it a strike. From upstairs, it looked like he stopped in time.
But it forced Blackmon into survival mode. He fouled the next three pitches. Then got one to hit.
“It was a good at-bat,” Blackmon said. “He didn’t throw that put-away pitch that he throws a lot. He didn’t make a great pitch until then. I was able to hang around long enough to get a good pitch to hit.”
Blackmon’s at-bat gave the Rockies a sliver of hope. But the Dodgers matched those two runs with two of their own in the bottom half of the inning. The in the first of a three-game series.
“We’re better prepared. We’ve got a lot of guys who’ve done this for awhile know. We know how it is,” B “Just because you get off to a good start, you can’t get too excited. And if you have a bad game or two, you can’t get too down on yourself.”
Kendrick fighting command
Rockies starter Kyle Kendrick, who lost a second consecutive game, said his struggling to throw strikes isn’t a big-picture issue. It’s in the details.
“I’m just trying to be too fine,” said Kendrick, whose ERA rose to 7.56. “Falling behind hitters. And when you fall behind, you don’t want to leave anything over the plate. I just need to get ahead. That’s what it boils down to. Getting ahead and finishing guys.”
Kendrick, who was so dominant in a season-opening win at Milwaukee, has struggled his past two starts.
“I’ve pitched long enough, I know what I’m doing,” Kendrick said. “If I fall behind in counts, that’s what will happen. It’s easier said then done. But I just have to get ahead in counts. That’s the key.”
Kershaw still searching
The Dodgers’ ace said he was disappointed only making it through six innings.
“Obviously, too many pitches,” He threw 104 pitches, 70 for strikes. “Give credit to the Rockies, but my job is to go seven, eight, nine innings every time.”
of Kershaw:
“He doesn’t quite seem like himself yet. I don’t think he’s hit his groove yet.”
Tags: Charlie Blackmon, Clayton Kershaw, Kyle Kendrick, Los Angeles Dodgers
