LOS ANGELES — The Rockies were California dreaming of a sweep over the Dodgers on Sunday … until Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig rudely interrupted and brought the Rockies crashing back to reality with a 6-4 defeat.
Kemp’s eighth-inning solo homer to deep center off put the Dodgers ahead 5-4. Kemp finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle and drove in four runs.
Then Puig took advantage of careless play by Colorado. Joc Pederson ripped an infield single to second baseman , who made a great stop but couldn’t quite get the ball out of his glove. Puig, who advanced from second to third on Pederson’s hit, saw LeMahieu’s casual throw to first baseman Ian Desmond and took off for home, just beating Desmond’s throw.
The crowd at Dodger Stadium erupted and the Rockies — who took the first two games of the series with 3-1 victories in both games — were finished. L.A. closer Kenley Jansen sat the Rockies down in order in the ninth for his 22nd save.
Asked if Puig’s mad dash home was a matter of heads-up hustle or the Rockies being caught napping, manager Bud Black said: “DJ slipped, and I think if DJ wanted to do it over again, it would probably be a firmer throw to Desi to get the ball in.”
LeMahieu explained that Puig is one of the few players who would even try to score in that situation.
“I don’t think (we fell asleep),” LeMahieu said. “There’s probably only two guys in the league who are going to take a chance like that, and he’s one of them. I had my eyes on him, and I saw him dancing off third. I thought, ‘All right, I’ll get it to Desi.’ (Puig) just had a really good read on it.”
Kemp’s homer off Ottavino was a simple matter of a hot power hitter feasting on a pitch he liked. Kemp crushed a 1-1, 93.7 mph fastball 414 feet. When he faces the Rockies, Kemp morphs into a combination of Hank Aaron and Ted Williams. He’s batting .438 (21-for-48) with four homers, four doubles,11 RBIs and a 1.222 OPS over the last 14 games against Colorado.
“I threw a fastball. I hadn’t thrown one yet, but he was all over it,” Ottavino said. “I guess he was looking for it. I executed everything today except for one or two pitches.”
Colorado had stretched its lead to 4-2 in the fifth on ‘s one-out homer to center, his 21st homer of the season, the most in the National League.
The Dodgers tied the game in the bottom of the frame against left-hander reliever , who was in for injured started . Kemp, who drove in the game’s first with an RBI groundout in the first, struck again. He ripped a single to left to score Max Muncy, and then left fielder was charged with an error on the throw, though Arenado didn’t handle the cutoff and the ball skipped passed catcher . That allowed Justin Turner to advance to third, and he scored on Cody Bellinger’s groundout to second.
“We let them advance on ball that got through a couple of guys, and that’s not sound fundamental baseball,” Black said. “I thought (Rusin) threw the ball well. Chris is going to show a couple of runs, but I like where he is as far as pitch quality.”
Bettis abruptly left the game in the top of fourth inning. The club said the right-hander has a “hot spot” on the middle finger of his pitching hand. Although a hot spot is not a blister, fluid has built up underneath the callus, and it has made it difficult to pitch.
“It’s really painful and every time I try to make a full extension with a pitch, it doesn’t feel like I can get there,” he said. “It’s a little bit of a mental block with the pain and it finally got the point where I felt like I had to say something. It’s pretty frustrating.”
Itap a situation Bettis has been dealing with since the middle of May when the finger flared up during a start against the Dodgers here on May 22. Bettis said he doesn’t know yet if he will have to go on the disabled list.
Bettis was scheduled to bat and was taking swings in the on-deck circle before he left the field and headed to the visitors clubhouse. He was pitching reasonably well at the time of his departure, giving up two runs on two hits with two strikeouts and no walks. Bettis threw 58 pitches over three innings.
Looking ahead
Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner (2-1, 2.51 ERA) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (7-6, 3.29), 6:40 p.m. Monday, ATTRM; 850 AM
This is a rematch of last Wednesday’s pitchers’ duel, though this time it’s at Coors Field instead of pitcher-friendly AT&T Park. The Giants won Wednesday’s game 1-0 on a walk-off homer in the ninth inning off reliever Harrison Musgrave. Freeland was excellent, pitching seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits with one walk and four strikeouts. In four starts against the Giants this season, Freeland is 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA. In his career against them at Coors Field, he’s 3-1 with a 2.91 ERA, with five walks and 13 strikeouts. Bumgarner also tossed seven shutout innings Wednesday, giving up just two hits and two walks while striking out eight. He allowed a runner to reach scoring position only once, in the fifth inning. Bumgarner has pitched 15 scoreless innings with 16 strikeouts and four walks across his past two starts. — Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
Tuesday: Giants RHP Mark Stratton (8-5, 4.55 ERA) at Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela (2-1, 6.23), 6:10 p.m, ATTRM
Wednesday: Giants LHP Andrew Suarez (3-4, 4.18) at Rockies LHP Tyler Anderson (5-3, 4.23), 6:10 p.m., ATTRM
Thursday: Off day
