Colorado Rockies morning after: A nail-biter nets a huge series win against the Dodgers

The Colorado Rockies had a back-and-forth affair late on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers but the Rockies prevailed to get a huge series win.

The Colorado Rockies lost the first game of their series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday and it had many Rockies fans saying “oh no, not again,” (perhaps with some more colorful language in there instead). The Rockies only won one game in Dodger Stadium in all of 2019 and they hadn’t won a series there since June 2018.

However, the Rockies redeemed themselves in the final two games of the series when they defeated the Dodgers 5-2 on Saturday and 7-6 on Sunday. With the series win, the Rockies handed the Dodgers their first series loss in the entire season and they dropped the Dodgers season record to 30-12. The Rockies, on the other hand, brought their record back up to 20-20, meaning that they have the second-to-last playoff spot in the NL if the season were to end today.

The keys to the Rockies win were situational hitting and the back-end of the bullpen.

The Rockies pitching for the first six innings

Ryan Castellani did not have a great start for the Rockies, as he went 4 1/3 innings allowing six hits and four runs (all earned) while walking four and striking out just one. The four runs came via two home runs from Corey Seager (one a solo shot and one a two-run homer) and a home run from Will Smith.

Carlos Estevez came on in relief of Castellani and struggled himself as he allowed two hits and two runs (both earned) in 1 2/3 innings. He did strike out three, though. His ERA now sits at 5.95 on the season.

The offense

It was a back-and-forth game for the Rockies all around. They were down 1-0 heading to the second inning but after Matt Kemp got on with a one-out single to left field and up came Josh Fuentes.

Fuentes delivered with a two-run home run to make it 2-1 Rockies. With the home run, he elongated his hitting streak to eight games. In that span, he is 10-for-26 (.385 batting average) with three doubles, that home run, and six RBI.

In the bottom of the second, Dodgers catcher Will Smith tied it up at 2 with a solo home run. In the fifth inning, with the game still tied at 2, Garrett Hampson led the inning off with a bunt single. Elias Diaz struck out after him but Hampson stole second base on strike three.

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As a result, Hampson was able to score easily on Raimel Tapia‘s RBI single to left field and Tapia was able to advance to second base on the throw to the plate. Tapia has a nine-game hitting streak himself, hitting .378 (14-for-37) in that span. He has also reached base in a career-high 19 consecutive games. In his last 23 games, he is hitting .360 (31-for-86).

Tapia was able to advance to third on a flyout by Trevor Story. Nolan Arenado drove Tapia in with an RBI single to left field. Arenado, after struggling to start the season, is hitting .326 (14-for-43) with four doubles, six RBI, and four walks in his last 11 games.

The Dodgers scored two times in the bottom half of the frame tie the game again but in the top of the sixth, Kevin Pillar led the inning off with a walk. Two batters later, facing former Rockie Jake McGee, Hampson tripled to center field, scoring Pillar and taking a 5-4 lead. Hampson, after going 6-for-40 (.150 average) in his last 12 games in August, is hitting .400 (8-for-20) in five games in September with five runs, three home runs, and four RBI.

However, once again, the Dodgers came back but this time, took the lead, in the next half inning with a two-run home run from Chris Taylor. The Rockies would come back and take the lead themselves for good, this time, with a two-run home run from former Dodger Matt Kemp, scoring Kevin Pillar and making it 7-6 Rockies.

The Rockies head to San Diego to take on the second-place Padres and their three best starting pitchers: Dinelson Lamet, Mike Clevinger, and Zach Davies. The Rockies will have Kyle Freeland on the mound for them tonight with the first pitch being at 7:10 p.m. (Mountain time).