LOS ANGELES — The old visitors clubhouse at Dodger Stadium was built with mouse-like proportions, a tiny cubbyhole in the middle of a basement maze. The newer, improved digs aren’t much bigger. You could hit both sides of the room with one swing of the bat.
Perfect for busting out. As the Rockies clawed through a 6-5 victory Saturday — an improbable and possibly season-saving third win in a row over the Dodgers — another struggling Colorado hitter escaped purgatory.
‘s two-run homer, his 20th this season, keyed a four-run second inning as the Rockies (77-65) remained three games ahead of the Cardinals and Brewers in the National League wild-card standings. Story also doubled in a run in the fifth. They’ve won five of their past six games.
“We’re building a lot of momentum with wins like this,” Story said. “You can definitely feel it.”
The Dodgers (92-50) continued to burn. They have, by far, the best record in baseball — but the NL West runaways have lost 14 of their past 15 games.
In part because two Rockies hitters flipped their slumps. on Thursday went 3-for-5 with a homer in the Rockies’ 9-1 win over Clayton Kershaw and he homered again Friday off Yu Darvish in a 5-4 win. He is now hitting above .250 for the first time since May 25.
Story is following suit. The second-year shortstop has struck out more than any hitter in the league, 171 in total, but against Alex Wood, Story found a groove. He belted a first-pitch fastball in the second over the wall in center field to score , who led off with a double. Story is just the second Rockies shortstop to reach 20 homers in consecutive seasons, after did it three years running through 2011.
“We know that their starters are really good. We just want to compete the best we can. If you get a good pitch to hit, maybe don’t wait around. I got a good pitch to hit early and I took a swing at it.
The second inning was boosted by , whose run-scoring single gave him 88 RBIs from the leadoff spot, tying Craig Biggio (1998) for most in NL history; and , who added an RBI single. Arenado played in his 700th career game, 11th most in Rockies history.
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Wood had dominated the Rockies this season, allowing just one run in 11 innings over two victories. But in the fifth, Story clipped Wood again, doubling off the center-field wall to score Parra again and the Rockies took a 5-3 lead. The Dodgers had rallied in the fourth behind Yasiel Puig’s two-run double off the heel of Arenado’s glove.
Colorado’s , who had struggled in his career at Dodger Stadium with a 6.75 ERA in five previous games, found his own reprieve. He faced the minimum number of batters through three innings on just 40 pitches. And his glovework glittered.
With Puig on first base in the second inning, Yasmani Grandal hit a hot shot toward right field. dove to his right to stop the grounder and threw to Story at second. Story bobbled the ball but flung a short throw to first, where Bettis scooped the turn out of the dirt.
“He’s an athlete over there,” Story said. “I knew if I got it in his area, he’d do the rest.”
Andre Ethier’s pinch-hit homer in the fifth, his first home run this year, was a boomer off Bettis over the visiting bullpen that trimmed the Rockies’ lead to 5-4. But Bettis, Colorado’s veteran right-hander who returned from cancer on Aug. 14, won his first game this season after some hard-luck no-decisions. He muscled through five innings on six hits and three earned runs. It was his first career win over the Dodgers.
“We got a ‘W’. That’s way more important,” Bettis said. “We’re rolling right now. It’s a good time.”
And in another battle of the bullpens, Rockies right-hander , who threw 100 mph for the first time in his life earlier this year at Dodger Stadium, struck out three in the sixth. Pat Neshek forced three flyballs in the seventh. Lefty Jake McGee set down Justin Turner, Puig and Austin Barnes in the eighth.
Arenado and Parra doubled off Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen in the ninth to add a buffer run for a 6-4 lead. And Greg Holland, after allowing a leadoff home run to Logan Forsythe, retired the next three batters for his 39th save.
Under the Dodgers’ streak to the top of the NL West this year lies a squirrely trend. The Rockies are 34-25 within the league’s best division. The Dodgers are 32-31. Head-to-head, the Rox hold an 8-7 advantage.
“These are like playoff games already,” McGee said. “The rest of the season will be like that for us.”
