Every game of this series between the Dodgers and Colorado Rockies was decided in the late innings. Mookie Betts delivered an RBI single in the eighth inning to give the Dodgers their second final-at-bat win of the series, 4-3 on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.
The winning rally came against Antonio Senzatela, the longtime Rockies starting pitcher who has thrived out of the bullpen this year. Tommy Edman and Freddie Freeman each singled with one out to put runners at the corners. Up came Betts, who worked a nine-pitch at-bat before rifling a single up the middle to score the game winner.
The Dodgers are 14-0-4 in their last 18 series against the Rockies, dating back to 2022, going 47-15 (.758) in games against Colorado during that span.
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That the game was still tied in the eighth inning required an escape by the Dodgers bullpen.
An error and double off Alex Vesia put a pair in scoring position with nobody out in the eighth. But he struck out his next two and gave way to Edgardo Henriquez, who induced a Kyle Karros fly out to escape the Dodgers’ second such two-on-nobody-out situation of the game.
Henriquez hasn’t allowed an earned run over his last 11 appearances and 11 2/3 innings. He earned his second win of the series, with all three games decided by one run.
Two paths to quality starts
Four straight Dodgers reached in the first inning, and three of them scored, two cashed in on a single by Kyle Tucker, one more RBI than he had over his previous 10 games.
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Rockies starter Gabriel Hughes, pressed into duty for his first major league game and first start, stranded two runners in the frame with a strikeout of Alex Call, including two abominable ABS challenges during the at-bat. The 24-year-old Hughes, a 2022 first-round draft pick out of Gonzaga, retired 15 Dodgers in a row after those three first inning runs.
Max Muncy snapped the string with a double down the right field line with two outs in the sixth inning, but he was stranded by Hughes, who struck out seven in his six innings while throwing 72 percent of his pitches for strikes.
That early three-run lead for Roki Sasaki was gone by the third inning, including two solo home runs in the second inning. Sasaki’s 19 home runs allowed are four more than anyone else on the staff, including nine home runs over his last five starts.
But even with the early hiccups, Wednesday was a step in the right direction from Sasaki, who struck out five and got through six innings, the latter for the first time in five starts. Sasaki put two runners in scoring position with nobody out in the fourth inning, but escaped with no damage thanks to a pair of strikeouts. Four of his five strikeouts came over his final three innings, retiring his last nine batters.
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Chip off the old block
Rockies third baseman Kyle Karros is the son of longtime Dodgers first baseman Eric Karros, who called Wednesday night’s game for SportsNet LA and has called six games against the Rockies this season involving his son. Karros homered in the second inning on Sunday, continuing a trend since debuting in the majors last August.
“A bullet of a home run at Dodger Stadium. You’ve heard that a couple hundred times,” Joe Davis said on the SportsNet LA call of the home run. “This time it’s Kyle.”
Kyle Karros has four home runs in 15 career games and 53 plate appearances against the Dodgers thus far, and five home runs in 117 games and 409 plate appearances against everyone else.
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Two of those Kyle Karros home runs have come at Dodger Stadium, tied for 1,030th in the 65-year history of the ballpark, a mere 128 shy of his father’s stadium-leading regular season total.
Wednesday particulars
Home runs: Kyle Karros (8), Edouard Julien (3)
WP — Edgardo Henriquez (4-0): 1 up, 1 down
LP — Antonio Senzatela (8-1): 1 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 2 strikeouts
Sv — Tanner Scott (13): 1 IP, 2 strikeouts
Up next
After 13 game days in a row, the Dodgers take Thursday off before welcoming the Arizona Diamondbacks to town beginning Friday night (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA). Shohei Ohtani starts on the mound in the opener.
