Small sample size, granted. But as samples go, itap a fire-breathing, condo-crunching kaiju monster: Eight games into the season, the have launched 21 home runs.
Perspective: The Rockies, after eight games, have scored 23 runs. Team dingers? Five. And three of those came late in Friday’s 10-6 loss to the rival Dodgers in the home opener at .
“I don’t know what the pace is,” chuckled third baseman Justin Turner, whose Dodgers added three more taters to the season tally and have now homered in all eight of their games. “But the boys are swinging the bats good, I know that.”
Well, we’ll tell you what the pace is, champ — a whopping 425 home runs over 162 games. More perspective: The Major League record for team homers is 267, set last year by the . The National League record: 249, set by Houston in 2000 during the debut season of Minute Maid Park.
“Itap good to see us have the off day and come in after a homestand and continue to swing the bats well,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
When a reporter reminded the Los Angeles skipper that he’d said during spring training that he didn’t think this year’s team would hit as many dingers as in 2018, Roberts smiled.
“I was wrong, wasn’t I?” he deadpanned.
“But did I say that we should, and I would expect us to, take better at-bats throughout the lineup. And so, yeah, when you barrel it, elevate it, good things are going to happen. But … I was right in the sense that I expected one through eight we’d be more consistent as far as quality.”
No kidding. Who needs Stanton and Judge when you’ve got Cody and Kike?
Cody Bellinger’s three-run shot off of Rockies starter in the fifth inning was No. 6 on the young season. Again, the Rockies have five. As a team.
“(I) just wanted what I did (in spring training) to carry it over to the regular season,” said Bellinger, who hit four home runs and slugged .528 in 53 Cactus League at-bats.
Don’t hate the swagger. Hate the matchup. Since opening day 2016, the Rockies and Dodgers have met 59 times, with Colorado winning only 24 of those contests and a 7-14 mark (.333) over their last 21 meetings.
“I didn’t know that (was the record),” Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor shrugged. “I think it always seems like a good series whenever we play them, a very competitive series.”
Well, usually. But the bombers in Dodger blue have now scored seven or more runs 14 different times on the Rockies since April 2016 and have won by four runs or more, head-to-head, on 13 occasions over that same span.
“Itap the first week of the season, and (the Rockies) have got a lot of talent on that team,” Taylor said. “Last year, they got a little taste of the playoffs and I’m sure they’re just as hungry as ever to get back there.”
Somebody sure looked hungrier Friday.
“Obviously (the Rockies are) a team we see a lot,” Turner said. “And it would do us well to win as many of those games as possible.”
Small sample size. But a big headache. Already.
On Deck
Dodgers RHP Walker Buehler (0-0, 15.00 ERA) vs. Rockies RHP Jon Gray (0-1, 4.05)
6:10 p.m. Saturday at Coors Field
TV: ATT SportsNet Radio: 850 AM/94.1
The last time Buehler faced the Rockies, he mowed them down with six-plus innings of one-hit, shutout ball as the Dodgers clinched the division title in a tiebreaker game at Chavez Ravine. However, the 24-year-old was hit hard in his 2019 debut against Arizona, lasting only three innings while giving up five runs. Colorado is hitting .183 in 109 at-bats against him with four home runs, while Los Angeles is hitting .337 with five homers in 98 at-bats against Gray. Max Muncy and Joc Pederson have both taken Gray deep twice as the right-hander is coming off a decent season debut in which he allowed three runs in six-plus innings against the Marlins.
հԻ徱Բ:Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda has been solid within the hitter-friendly confines of Coors Field, where he entered Friday with a 3.19 ERA in eight games (five starts). He continued that reliability at altitude Friday, yielding one run on four hits over five innings.
At issue: Colorado takes on the Dodgers 18 more times this season, and as opening day as well as Los Angeles’ historic early home run pace has demonstrated, slugfests with the boys in blue are certainly not in Colorado’s best tactical interests. The Dodgers won last year’s season series 13-7.
Upcoming pitching matchups
Sunday: Dodgers LHP Julio Urias (0-0, 0.00) at Rockies RHP Chad Bettis (0-1, 9.53), 6:37 p.m., ESPN
Monday: Braves RHP Julio Teheran (0-1, 3.60) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-1, 2.31), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
Tuesday: Braves TBD at Rockies RHP German Marquez (1-0, 0.69), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
