Brett Anderson returned to Coors Field on Friday for the first time since the Rockies tossed him to the recycle bin. Colorado The Los Angeles Dodgers happily picked him off the heap.
Eddie Butler, a 24-year-old right-hander, in a roundabout way replaced Anderson in the Rockies’ rotation when he made the opening-day roster for the first time.
The two pitchers threw against each other in the rain Friday, with Anderson and the Dodgers streaking in first place in the National League West and Butler and the Rockies floundering in a week-long losing skid in the division basement.
And with rain sprinkles turning to sheets in the fifth inning, after Anderson hustled out pitches in a soaked-through jersey, the Dodgers held off a Rockies rally and ultimately won 2-1. The Rockies (11-16) lost an eighth consecutive game.
“I finally started finding a groove and then, it’s like, well they cut it short,” Butler said. “That’s a tough call. I wanted to keep playing.”
The game was in its second rain delay late into the night in the top of the sixth inning. The Dodgers had the bases loaded and one out when the game was called. The delay lasted one hour and 40 minutes — one minute less than how long the actual game time was clocked. Officials ended the game at 11 p.m.
With two outs in the fifth, Colorado’s Charlie Blackmon walked, then stole second base. After Corey Dickerson reached first on a grounder to second base, Blackmon broke for home trailing by one run. If he scored, and the Rockies tied the score, it would force the game to continue at some point even if the rain washed away the rest of the night.
But Blackmon was called out at home by umpire Tim Timmons. Colorado manager Walt Weiss demanded a video replay. And after a three-minute delay, with the Dodgers standing in the rain, Blackmon’s out was confirmed, thus making the game official if the rain stopped the action.
“I think I was safe. Was there enough evidence to overturn it? I don’t know,” Blackmon said. “The ball beat me there and a lot of times that can influence which way the call goes. But after looking at it, I can see him going either way.”
Weiss said of the call: “Some angles he looks safe. But with replay, it has to be conclusive. It’s a close play. If the call on the field was safe, I don’t think it gets overturned.”
Anderson, who pitched through an injury-laced season for the Rockies last year, knew quickly his time in Denver was short-lived. They cut him loose in November after he threw in just eight games for the Rockies.
“We haven’t really lost any sleep over it,” Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich said in February.
In six starts with the Dodgers, Anderson has 16 strikeouts against just five walks. They have won four of the six games he’s pitched. He allowed six hits and no earned runs in five wet innings against the Rockies, lowering his ERA to 3.52.
“I can’t believe we played through that fifth inning,” Anderson told reporters. “That was probably the hardest rain I’ve ever been out in, certainly on a baseball field.”
The Rockies could use him right now. Their starting rotation has the worst strikeout-to-walk ratio in baseball, at 1.36 (95 to 70). The Dodgers’ starters, on the other hand, are the best in baseball with a 4.31 K-to-BB ratio (155 to 36).
And on Friday, the Rockies sent lefty Tyler Matzek to Triple-A, leaving them with just four starters in the rotation.
Through the first three innings, Butler threw a first-pitch strike to just three of 13 batters. He walked two of the first three hitters he faced — and both scored. In his six games, Butler has 19 strikeouts and 19 walks — and too many baserunners for the Rockies to overcome.
Against the Dodgers, Butler got too much movement on his pitches, in part, he said, because of the wet and heavy air.
“Ball was moving real well. I was just missing, just off the plate,” Butler said. “I hadn’t quite got the feel for it early on. It was moving more than it normally does. But I started feeling it out and getting into the zone and got guys swinging.”
Between the third and fifth innings, Butler faced the minimum. In 5 innings, Butler gave up five hits and four walks, with three strikeouts.
“I’m encouraged by what I see from Eddie,” Weiss said. “There’s enough stuff there to carve up big-league lineups.”
Adrian Gonzalez’s RBI ground-rule double for the Dodgers in the first inning scored Joc Pederson. Yasmani Grandal hit a flyball to left field that Corey Dickerson caught sliding into the dirt. But it scored a tagged-up Justin Turner as the Dodgers took a 2-0 lead.
Troy Tulowitzki doubled in the fourth for the Rockies, then scored when Nolan Arenado singled to left field and L.A.’s Alex Guerrero bobbled the ball.
“We were trying to do everything we could to win,” Dickerson said. “We put together some good at-bats and we had an opportunity. But it got us. We can’t control the weather.”
Nick Groke: ngroke@denverpost.com or
