LOS ANGELES – Dee Gordon had four hits, including a triple that was misplayed into four bases by left fielder Charlie Blackmon, and Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched six strong innings to help the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Colorado 6-1 on Monday night and snap the Rockies’ season-best five-game winning streak.
Ryu (8-3) allowed a run and three hits in six innings and struck out six in his 13th start. In his first 13 starts last season – his first in the major leagues – the left-hander was 8-5 with a 2.85 earned-run average. This was the ninth time this year that Ryu has allowed fewer than three earned runs, and he is 7-0 in those games.
Matt Kemp drove in two runs for Los Angeles, while A.J. Ellis, Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez had RBI singles. Ryu and four relievers retired 16 of the final 17 Colorado batters after Wilin Rosario’s two-out homer in the fourth.
Tyler Matzek (1-1) allowed three runs and 10 hits through five innings in his second big league start and did not strike out a batter, five days after giving up two runs over seven innings and fanning seven in an 8-2 victory over Atlanta at Coors Field.
The Dodgers opened the scoring in the third, as Gordon circled the bases on a ball that Blackmon had trouble picking up twice in the corner. First, he stumbled while bending down for it against the lower fence in foul ground and had to chase it back into fair territory – where he missed on his second attempt to grab it. By the time Blackmon relayed it back to the infield, it was way too late to get Gordon, who was credited with his major league-leading seventh triple.
Kemp singled home a run later that inning and doubled home a run on the sixth. He started in the cleanup spot for the fifth time this season, and the Dodgers have won every time. Regular cleanup hitter Adrian Gonzalez got the night off, while Scott Van Slyke played first base.
Gordon, who leads the majors with 36 stolen bases, was thrown out for the sixth time – by Rosario in the first inning. The Rockies’ 22-year-old catcher trimmed the Dodgers’ lead to 2-1 in the fourth with his seventh homer, driving an 0-2 pitch into the pavilion in left field with two outs.
But Ellis got that run back in the fifth with just his second run batted in of an injury-plagued season in which the Dodgers’ No. 1 catcher missed 34 games because of knee surgery and sat out another 18 with a sprained right ankle. Ellis’ two singles raised his average from .196 to .222.
Rockies rumpus
A moment of silence was observed for Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who died Monday at age 54. Gwynn’s brother Chris and son Tony both played for the Dodgers. “He was just a genius with the bat,” Dodgers Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully said. ... Perhaps the biggest of Gwynn’s 140 career hits at Dodger Stadium came on Sept. 28, 1996, when his tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning off Mark Guthrie helped clinched a postseason berth for the Padres. The following day, brother Chris hit a two-run double in the 11th as a pinch-hitter to help the Padres win 2-0 and wrap up the NL West title. ... Forget about RHP Chad Billingsley rejoining the Dodgers’ roster before the end of the season. He has a torn flexor tendon in his right elbow, which will require surgery next Tuesday. Billingsley hasn’t pitched in a major league game since April 15, 2013, nine days before he underwent Tommy John surgery. ... The Rockies optioned struggling RHP Juan Nicasio to Triple-A Colorado Springs and promoted OF-1B Kyle Parker from the Sky Sox. Parker, selected in the first round of the 2010 draft, made his big league debut in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter and struck out.
