Colorado Rockies morning after: Blackmon, Rox pound Kershaw, Dodgers

On Monday night, the Colorado Rockies used a dominating pitching performance from Chad Kuhl to knock off the Los Angeles Dodgers. On Tuesday night, it was the offense’s turn to be the difference-maker against L.A.

Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw had one of his worst outings in recent memory as the Colorado Rockies took down the visitors for the second time in two nights, thanks to a 7-4 decision in front of a lively crowd of 36,097 that had plenty of representation for both teams.

With the win, Colorado has now won four of its first five games of the season against the Dodgers.

The Colorado Rockies put up plenty of offense against Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers

Kershaw gave up six runs on nine hits in 4.0 innings of work, with Elias Díaz and Randal Grichuk each launching homers off the future Hall of Famer. Tuesday marked the first time in more than five years that Kershaw had been tagged for six or more earned runs in a start, with the New York Mets last accomplishing the feat on June 19, 2017.

Kershaw has allowed six or more earned runs in 12 career starts, and three of those outings have happened at Coors Field. However, Tuesday was the first time Kershaw had given up six or more since he surrendered six on June 9, 2011.

Among those making a dent on Kershaw and the Dodgers on Tuesday night was Charlie Blackmon, who went 4-for-5 on the night, with Blackmon needing just five pitches to collect those four hits. He hit the first pitch he saw off Kershaw for a hit in his first three at-bats.

“I felt like the first pitch was a pretty good pitch to hit a couple of times, so I was pretty aggressive,” Blackmon said. “I thought we did a good job from a team offense perspective. We worked some walks and, for the most part, laid off some of his really good pitches to get ourselves into better counts or to take the walk.”

Colorado manager Bud Black agreed that his team was patient at the plate on Tuesday.

“I thought we did a good job of recognizing balls and strikes and being ready to hit, yet laying off the borderline pitches,” Black said.

The Rockies also got what what Black called “a solid performance” from starter Kyle Freeland, who scattered six hits and three runs over six innings. The Dodgers touched him for three hits and two runs in the game’s first two frames before Freeland settled in.

“Kyle, again, pitched aggressive with the fastball, which I liked,” Black said. “He was aggressive inside with the fastball and the slider.”

The Rockies and Dodgers will finish off the three-game series on Wednesday night, with Colorado’s Germán Márquez (4-5, 5.58 ERA) slated to square off against Julio Urías (5-6, 2.48 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. (Mountain time).