LOS ANGELES — The Rockies’ magic number is a complicated mess. The win total it will take to punch them into the postseason is a calculation still forming. It is a sum line in the distance near the end of a three-week stretch.
Bud Black was happy to pinpoint the exact number. When asked Thursday afternoon how many wins his team needs to reach the playoffs, the Rockies’ manager balked, then added up the figure:
“One. Tonight.”
Colorado quickly cleared Black’s bar, kicking off a critical eight-game road trip Thursday night by ambushing Clayton Kershaw. ‘s three-run home run in the first inning set in motion a 9-1 blowout victory over the suddenly reeling Dodgers at Chavez Ravine.
The Rockies (75-65) moved three games and a big sigh ahead of the Cardinals and Brewers in the National League wild-card chase, and seven behind the Diamondbacks. But at the start of an eight-game swing through Los Angeles and Arizona, two of the best teams in the league, Colorado’s victory seemed like a giant step forward.
“I don’t want to get all dramatic,” Arenado said, “but you can make the argument that was our biggest win of the year.”
And it unfolded immediately. The first four Rockies batters hit safely — the first time in Kershaw’s three-time Cy Young-winning career he allowed four hits to start a game. Arenado’s blast to left field scored and . Mark Reynolds followed with another single but did not score.
The Rockies knocked Kershaw again in the third, after singled, doubled and Jonathan Lucroy hit a sacrifice fly to right field.
Kershaw got the hook with two outs in the fourth inning, after he labored through 86 pitches and seven strikeouts. He left with a 4-0 deficit. The Rockies had not defeated Kershaw at Dodger Stadium since 2013. He had not exited a game so early without injury since 2014.
added a solo homer to lead off the seventh, a shot to center field off Dodgers reliever Edward Paredes. That pitcher was replaced by Josh Ravin, who walked Arenado and Parra with the bases loaded. The Dodgers have lost 12 of their past 13 games.
When the Rockies hit three home runs off Kershaw at Coors Field on April 8 — the first time he allowed as many as three homers in a game — it kicked off a Colorado run to the top of the NL West, a spot they had as late as June 20.
Their victory again over Kershaw this time, Gonzalez said, feels like a similar effect.
“Absolutely,” he said. “We faced the best pitcher in the game and we won. And when you’re playing on his field where he’s pretty much untouchable, we’re talking about a guy who already has a no-hitter against this team. But not just because we beat him. We had a great outing by our guy, Jon Gray, who pitched great.”
The Rockies needed a punch. They struggled to a 3-6 record on a homestand that ended Wednesday in a loss to the hapless Giants. Wild-card anxiety, though, had not yet creeped into Colorado’s clubhouse.
“I don’t know, maybe it feels a little different,” LeMahieu said. “But it doesn’t matter. We just need to play well. It’s been a fun year. We should keep it going.”
Gray, the Rockies’ right-hander, outmatched Kershaw in a duel of No. 1s. Gray did not allow a hit until Chris Taylor’s two-out single in the third inning. But Taylor was caught trying to steal second base. Gray allowed just one run, after Cody Bellinger and Yasiel Puig both doubled in the fourth. He gave up just four hits in six innings.
And every batter in the Rockies’ starting lineup, except Gray, got at least one hit, and six of them finished with at least two.
When Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts pulled Kershaw in the fourth to a stunned reaction around Dodger Stadium, the lefty walked calmly to the dugout and blew up, hurling his glove at a wall and screaming loud enough to echo off the bleachers.
The Rockies said something too, an exclamation of persistence.
“This is a nice win. When you go up against Kershaw and you win the game,” Black said. “And now we’re looking for tomorrow.”
