DENVER – Joc Pederson hit a pair of solo homers, Matt Kemp went deep during an eight-run seventh inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Colorado Rockies 12-4 on Saturday night.
Pederson turned in his fifth multihomer game and first since Sept. 10, 2016 at Miami. He also doubled and singled to tie a career high with four hits.
Kemp kept up his torrid hitting against Colorado by lining a cutter from reliever Bryan Shaw (2-4) for a two-run homer to break open a tight game. Kemp leads all active players with 44 homers against the Rockies.
That wasn’t all from the Dodgers outfielder: He threw out Charlie Blackmon at the plate in the first inning when Blackmon tried to tag up on a fly.
Tied at 4 going into the seventh, the Dodgers erupted in a long inning that included six hits, three walks, three pitching changes and 12 batters. The sellout crowd simultaneously cheered and booed thanks to a large contingent of L.A. fans.
This was the second time the Rockies have allowed eight or more runs in an inning this season. They surrendered nine in the seventh against San Diego on April 23.
Dodgers infielder Breyvic Valera had three RBIs – the first three of his big-league career. Reliever Pedro Baez (2-3) earned the win.
Just like that, the Dodgers are right back in the thick of the NL West race after falling behind by nine games on May 8.
“We were written off in April,” manager Dave Roberts cracked.
Trevor Story had three hits and DJ LeMahieu added a two-run double for the Rockies, who fell to 1-4 versus the Dodgers this season.
Dodgers left-handed reliever Scott Alexander pitched a clean seventh after starting and recording four outs in Friday’s game.
The starters on Saturday were the same as when the Rockies beat the Dodgers 2-1 on May 21 in Los Angeles. Only this time, Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler and Rockies righty German Marquez weren’t nearly as sharp.
Buehler’s undoing was the second inning, when the rookie allowed more runs (4) than he did in his last two starts combined (2).
Marquez threw a career-high 114 pitches over six shaky innings.
He did set the Dodgers down in order in the first. That’s significant because entering the game 14 of the 30 runs Marquez has allowed this season have come in the opening frame.
Dodgers: LHP Alex Wood (1-4, 3.75 ERA) has a 4-3 all-time mark against Colorado heading into the series finale Sunday.
Rockies: RHP Chad Bettis (4-1, 3.68) is 29-14 overall at Coors Field in 109 career games that includes 80 starts.
