Log In


Reset Password
Sports Youth Sports Professional Sports More Sports College Sports High School Sports

Frias, Dodgers go cold in Colorado

Rockies score 8 in the first and 16 runs total on 21 hits
DJ LeMahieu scored one of the Colorado Rockies’ 16 runs in their 16-2 rout over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday at Coors Field in Denver. The Rockies scored eight runs in the first inning alone.

DENVER – Clayton Kershaw and a few of his teammates gathered on the couch, eyes glued to the flat-screen TV. They were rooting for Arizona against rival San Francisco.

No such luck, though. The Giants won, and the NL West race just got a lot tighter.

Nothing went right for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday.

Justin Morneau tied a season high with six runs batted in, including five as part of an eight-run first inning against spot starter Carlos Frias, and the Colorado Rockies routed the Dodgers 16-2.

L.A. now leads the Giants by two games in the division.

Frias (0-1) gave up 10 hits, including seven in a row to start the game, and eight runs before being pulled after recording only two outs. According to information provided to the teams by the Elias Sports Bureau, he’s the first pitcher in the modern era to allow 10 hits while getting less than three outs.

Still, Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly is contemplating bringing Frias back for another turn in the rotation. He doesn’t have many options if the sore left shoulder of Hyun-Jin Ryu isn’t better by next week. Ryu will test it out later this week in Chicago.

“You only have ‘X’ amount of starters for that spot,” Mattingly said. “You choose what’s best for that spot, and you move on.”

The harder Frias seemed to throw, the harder the Rockies seemed to hit the baseball.

“It was a bad day,” Frias said through a translator. “Can’t really chalk it up to anything other than a bad day.

“All I can do is put it behind me and look forward to the next outing.”

Morneau hit a three-run homer and a two-run single in the opening frame, as the Rockies chased Frias after just two outs. Carlos Gonzalez and Morneau are the only Rockies players to drive in five runs in an inning.

“You play this game a long time you see some things you’ve never seen,” Morneau said. “Obviously, having guys on base is important. You wouldn’t expect us to come out against a guy like that who’s got really good stuff. He was a guy we were ready for, and we were able to get some hits.”

Charlie Blackmon went 5-for-5 with a solo homer, as the Rockies took two of three from the Dodgers, who trailed 15-0 after six innings against the team with the worst record in the league.

Morneau had three hits and a sacrifice fly, raising his average to .320 and leaping over Pittsburgh’s Josh Harrison for the NL batting lead.

Jorge De La Rosa (14-11) gave up two hits in six scoreless innings to improve to 10-2 at home this season.

“You’ve seen some strange things in this park,” Rockies’ manager Walt Weiss said. “There’s a lot of game left, and Jorge did a good job of keeping them down.”

The hard-throwing Frias didn’t record a traditional out, either, in his 38-pitch appearance. He got one when catcher Tim Federowicz threw out Corey Dickerson on a steal attempt and another when Wilin Rosario tried to score from third on a squeeze play.

“It’s almost like everything you call gets hit,” Federowicz said. “Just one of those things.”

This hardly looked like the same Dodgers team that was coming off a big series win in San Francisco that included a 17-0 romp over the Giants. Los Angeles is chasing Washington for the best record in the NL.

The Dodgers needed an eight-run sixth inning to get by the Rockies on Monday, then stranded runner after runner Tuesday in a 10-4 loss.

Once the Rockies roughed up Frias, Mattingly steadily began taking out his position players as the Rockies set a season high for runs.

“I was just getting guys off their feet,” Mattingly said.

Rockies rumpus

Dodgers SS Hanley Ramirez wasn’t in the starting lineup for a second consecutive day because of a strained right elbow. Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly believes he will be ready to play in Chicago. ... Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado remains sidelined with a bruised chest and pneumonia. ... Dodgers RHP Zack Greinke (15-8) will take the mound Thursday to begin a four-game series in Chicago against the Cubs. The righty needs nine strikeouts to reach 200 for the season. ... Rockies LHP Yohan Flande (0-5) will move back into the rotation after spending the last month as a reliever. He’ll try for his first major league win when the Rockies will host Arizona on Thursday. ... Former Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo threw the only no-hitter at Coors Field on Sept. 17, 1996, in a 9-0 win. ... Coors Field, a house of horrors for most pitchers, hasn’t been so for Jorge De La Rosa. He finished the 2014 home campaign 10-2 with a 3.08 ERA in 15 starts at Coors Field. ... The Rockies now have scored eight runs in an inning twice this season. They also did it against the Mets on May 3. Their 21 hits tied a season high set May 6 against Texas.

Sep 17, 2014
Morneau finishes a triple shy of the cycle


Reader Comments