Colorado Rockies at LA Dodgers: 5 positive takeaways despite sweep

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Jun 24, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Mike Dunn (38) pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /

The Colorado Rockies took a trip to Los Angeles for a critical three-game set against the Dodgers. Unfortunately, the Dodgers won all three games, 6-1, 4-0, and 12-6. Despite falling three games further behind the Dodgers in the division standings, here’s five positive takeaways from the weekend series.

#1: MIKE DUNN SETTLES DOWN

Mike Dunn had struggled coming into the Dodgers series. He had given up multiple runs in the two starts prior to the Dodgers series.

Dunn was called on Friday night in the seventh inning and had a very solid outing, working around a walk and striking out two en route to a scoreless outing. He was called on again the following night in the eighth inning. This time he worked a nice 1-2-3 inning, picking up another strikeout along the way.

His stuff looked very sharp in contrast to the two outings prior to this weekend. Hopefully this will be a positive sign for the Rockies in the future and Dunn can continue to settle down and be a reliable back-end of the bullpen reliever.

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#2: CHRIS RUSIN COULD BE AN EMERGENCY PINCH-HIT OPTION

It is typical for NL teams to turn to starting pitchers as pinch-hitters late in long games when the bench is empty. The Rockies could possibly have an option in their bullpen: Chris Rusin.

Rusin was originally a starter with the Cubs from 2012-14, before being selected off waivers by the Rockies during the 2014 offseason. After starting most games for the Rockies in 2015, Rusin saw more bullpen action in the 2016 season and had exclusively seen bullpen action thus far in the 2017 season.

In 28 games so far this year, Rusin has only had six at-bats. One of those at-bats came in the fifth inning on Saturday night. Rusin worked a nice AB before hitting a single to right field.

In the limited action at the plate Rusin has seen this year, he is hitting .500 (3 for 6) and has only struck out once. So if the Rockies need a pinch-hitter late in a game with the bench empty, they may want to consider turning to the bullpen and giving the nod to Rusin.

Jun 24, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu (9) hits a double against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /

#3: KERSHAW DOMINANT, BUT ONLY GOES SIX

Clayton Kershaw only gave up four hits and a walk on Saturday night, but had to be pulled after six innings and a 103-pitch outing. Despite picking up the win to improve to 11-2, Kershaw had his second shortest outing of the year.

In a game at the end of May, Kershaw wasn’t able to get out of the fifth inning, but other than that he has gone at least six innings in every other outing in 2017. Saturday marked only the third time this year that Kershaw only pitched six innings.

This was mostly due to prolonged at-bats by the Rockies. Kershaw only faced 23 batters, meaning he had to throw an average of 4.5 pitches to each batter and 17.2 pitches per inning. For Kershaw, those numbers are a little higher than his usual.

Hopefully when the Rockies face Kershaw again in the future, they will be able to work some more of those long at-bats into better outcomes, but for now, like most of baseball, all the Rockies can do is tip their hat to the impressiveness of Clayton Kershaw.

#4: LEMAHIEU EARNS BACK-TO-BACK TWO HIT GAMES AGAIN

For the ninth time this season, DJ LeMahieu has picked up multiple hits in back-to-back games. On Saturday night, LeMahieu picked up a hard hit double to left field in the first and a sharp single to right later in the game.

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On Sunday, LeMahieu had a pair of singles, one in the third and one in the sixth. On the year, LeMahieu’s batting average has been hovering around .300. Coming into Friday night’s game, it was .303, then it was back to .300 after the game. Saturday’s hits brought it to .303 and Sunday’s hits brought it to .304.

While his average this year is well below last year’s .348, LeMahieu has seen the ball well and had some impressive games, including back-to-back four hit games earlier in the month of June.

#5: OFFENSE COMES ALIVE ON SUNDAY

Although the pitching staff still allowed 12 runs to the Dodgers on Sunday, the hitting staff tried to make up for it, scoring six runs after scoring only one in the first two games combined. Nonetheless, it wasn’t enough and the Rox dropped the last game of the series. The top and middle of the lineup was productive, with the two through six hitters scoring all six runs for the Rox.

Plenty of solid performances were had up and down the lineup. Mark Reynolds went 1-for-2 with a run scored, an RBI, and three walks. Ian Desmond went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. LeMahieu picked up two hits and Nolan Arenado scored two runs.

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The Rockies will try to put this series out of their mind as soon as possible. After an off day tomorrow, the Rox continue their west coast trip at San Francisco on Tuesday with a 8:15 p.m. first pitch. The Rockies will send Jeff Hoffman (4-1, 4.29 ERA) to the mound, while the Giants will counter with Matt Cain (3-7, 5.54 ERA) .

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