The Sports Xchange
Jun 25, 2017
LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers scored five runs on four wild pitches by Colorado reliever Adam Ottavino in the seventh and eighth innings, putting an unusually bizarre finish on their 10th straight win, 12-6 over the beleaguered Colorado Rockies on Sunday.
Trailing 6-4 going into the bottom of the seventh, Justin Turner singled and Logan Forsythe doubled to put runners in scoring position with two outs. Rockies manager Bud Black went to Ottavino, who walked Austin Barnes on a full count to load the bases.
With Yasmani Grandal at the plate, Ottavino (1-2) threw a hard cutter past catcher Tony Wolters, allowing Turner to score and make it a 6-5 game. The right-hander's next pitch broke hard in the same spot and it bounced past Wolters all the way to the backstop, allowing Forsythe and Barnes to score for a 7-6 lead.
In the eighth, Ottavino threw two more wild pitches with runners on third, pushing the lead to 9-6. The Dodgers added to the Rockies' misery in the inning, Cody Bellinger hitting a two-run home run, his second of the day and league-leading 24th of the season, and closer Kenley Jansen an RBI double.
Jansen came in with one out in the eighth and recorded a five-out save. He also issued his first walk of the season. Pedro Baez (2-0) pitched a scoreless inning. It was the Rockies' fifth straight loss.
The Dodgers survived a subpar effort by starter Brandon McCarthy. The right-hander had put together six straight quality starts, allowing just six runs, but had his own wildness issues in the second, walking two and throwing three wild pitches of his own in a three-run inning. Two hits and an error by Enrique Hernandez led to two more runs in the third and a 5-0 Rockies lead.
The Dodgers' bats woke up in the third, Hernandez hitting a two-run home run to right, his eighth, and Bellinger a two-run home run to right, to make it 5-4 and knock out starter Tyler Anderson. He lasted 2 1/3 innings in his first start since coming off the disabled list with a sore knee.
The Rockies made it 6-4 in the fifth on Ian Desmond's two-out RBI single.
The Dodgers have won 16 of their last 17 and are 24-6 since May 25. It was their 11th straight home win, and their 17th straight game with a home run, tying the L.A. franchise record set in 1970. The Brooklyn Dodgers had a 24-game streak in 1953. The Dodgers have hit 41 home runs in their last 16 games.
NOTES: Dodgers SS Corey Seager sat out a second game after suffering a mild right hamstring strain on Friday. The Dodgers will wait a few more days before deciding if they will put him on the 10-day disabled list, back-dated to Friday. ... OF Franklin Gutierrez, 34, was placed on the 10-day disabled list with ankylosing spondylitis, an auto-immune condition that causes stiff joints. Gutierrez (.232, one home run, eight RBIs) came down with the ailment in 2011 and missed the 2014 season dealing with the condition. ... INF Mike Freeman was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to replace Gutierrez. He was acquired from Seattle in late May and was 2-for-30 while with the Mariners. ... RHP Kenta Maeda (5-3, 4.62 ERA) will make a spot start Tuesday against the Angels, allowing the team to give all of their starters an extra day off. ... RF Yasiel Puig was not in the starting lineup because of some soreness in his right hamstring. ... Rockies RF Carlos Gonzalez was out of the lineup for the third straight game because of a sore right shoulder suffered in the final game of the Arizona series. He hasn't taken batting practice since the injury and the club hasn't scheduled an MRI as of yet. ... RP Jon Gray made a five-inning rehab assignment in Triple-A Albuquerque on Saturday and declared he's ready to return to the Rockies rotation. Gray has been idle since April after suffering a broken foot.