The Dodgers lead evaporate in a 10-day loss to the Rockies

The Dodgers blew three leads, looked bad on defense, had a rare bleed fight by Kenley Jansen, and an extra inning increased their ugly head again on Sunday at Coors Field. Charlie Blackmon started Phil Bickford in the 10th inning, giving the Rockies a 6-5 win, preventing a weekend sweep with the Dodgers in a ninth loss in 10 extra matches this season.

The last three innings were mixed when Dodgers regained the lead in the eighth inning in Will Smith’s two-part home round, a lined shot along the left field, Dodgers ’seventh home round in a three-game series.

Jansen gave the ninth lead to double Ryan McMahon, then Chris Owings selected him home as a handicap player. It marked Jansen’s only third inflated savings at 24 companies this season and the first since May 5th.

Albert Pujols started the tenth year of the game as a free runner on second base, Smiths ’double single made a winning run for the Dodgers. It was the fourth single hit on Pujols ’second base this season, and for the first time he scored a goal. Smith drove on three runs on Sunday, giving him seven RBIs in two matches played over the weekend.

But it wasn’t enough at the bottom of the frame, and a pair of volleyballs against Bickford promoted the free runner home to tie things up before the Blackmons match with two outwards.

Their way of error

Outside of Max Muncy and possibly a meter outside of Smith, Dodgers ’defense has been pretty poor this season, with several players ranked below average in the SABR Defensive Index, a collection of five different statistics that make up a quarter of the Gold Glove Award vote.

On Sunday, the Rockies made a tie and won races for plays that should have been done. The first, a pop-up inside, with two exits in the fifth, was dropped by Chris Taylor.

In seventh, Matt Adams ’100.4 mph grinder tipped Turners gloves forward. The game was not called a mistake, even if the RBI single could have been at least one if not for the game’s double-play.

The defense has been inconsistent throughout the season, director Dave Roberts said. When you give teams extra starts, it’s hard to win.

Stretching

David Price continued to get an inch closer to becoming a full member from the initial round. He took four innings on Sunday, one inning more than his last start, which was one innings more than his before departure that. Price, who has said many times this season, is willing to rise to any role requested by the team, on Sunday it took longer to play than he has since July 30, 2019 with Boston.

Going through four seemed uncertain after a 22-fast first when the Rockies put the run into a doubles, a turn that Turner continued with a third base error. But Price landed after the mistake, allowing only a walk for the rest of his life, through four innings on the 66 field.

After returning from a hind limb injury in May, Price has received 2.16 ERA and 2.45 FIP in 25 innings with 24 strikes, six visits and no home runs. In July, Price has allowed one run in nine innings with 10 strikes.

Whatever the Dodgers have asked Price, he delivers.

Price helped himself in the third inning with a punch that died in the grass about 40 yards up to the third baseline, the fifth hit of Price’s career and his first with the Dodgers. Three strokes late, Turner hit the ball considerably farther, 399 feet and over a high wall on the right field for a two-run home lap that led the Dodgers to the lead.

Turners Homer also made the price, the first time he did a run with the biggest ones, minors or college.

Grind

In a series that leads the National League with points, base percentage and wRC +, two distinctive struggles are Cody Bellinger and Gavin Lux. Roberts used the same terms in separate media sessions this weekend to describe both batsmen: He’s grinding.

Bellinger was added to the lead on Sunday with Mookie Betts and his irritated hip, only the third time Bellinger started the game to hit first. The idea was to get Bellinger into as many appearances as possible against Rockies starter Jon Gray, against whom he was 11-for-18 with five doubles, a triple, four walks and one strike on Sunday.

When Cody was really good, in 2019 he was hitting first and the snail followed. He used the left center, the center of the field, the right center. Then by breaking the balls in the zone, he hit them on the pulling side, Roberts said before Sunday’s match. If he could return as a hit collector using both openings, I think that’s a great start.

Bellinger didn’t collect any of these hits, but moved into the 0-for-4 game with a cross and two inside fields with a pop-up against Gray, waving four quick balls and a slider. During the season, Bellinger strikes only .168 / .284 / .282, 63 wRC +, and in July he is 5-for-52 (.096) with one extra hit, six walks and 16 strikes.

Gray took seven innings, allowing only two runs, hitting seven.

Lux has been up and down aggressively throughout the year. He recovered with 128 wRC + in May, but has been well below average every other month. As of June 1, Lux will hit .202 / .317 / .282, including 0 against 4 on Sunday.

When he uses the middle of the field, he is very dangerous. It allows for more album art and he’s able to handle more tunes, Roberts said Saturday. When he starts pulling baseball too much, I think it exposes him like all batsmen.

To add to the injury, Lux grabbed immediately after grounding his left hamster in the ninth inning and left the game.

Sunday information

The home works: Justin Turner (16), Will Smith (11); Charlie Blackmon (5)

WP Mychal Givens (3-2): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 undeserved run, 1 walk, 3 strikes

LP Phil Bickford (0-1): IP, 1 hit, 2 runs (1 earned)

Next

The Dodgers return to Dodger Stadium for the home of seven games, starting with four rival Giants, a battle between teams with the two best baseball records. Tony Gonsolin will start Dodgers on Monday at the opening of the series (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA) against Kevin Gausman.