LOS ANGELES, CA — The Rockies have become a thorn in the Dodgers’ side. Surprising to say the least with one of the best teams in baseball struggling against a ballclub at the bottom of the barrel of the National League.
Two nights in a row (Monday and Tuesday) with Colorado in LA for a three-game set and the boys in Blue could not hold a late-inning lead. But unlike Monday night’s extra-inning comeback win, Tuesday’s game ended in a Rockies victory this time.
You couldn’t really blame the bullpen as a whole for Tuesday because in the eighth inning, the usual good Los Angeles defense fell apart—committing two costly errors, which allowed Colorado to score three unearned runs and take a 4-3 lead.
The Rockies fought until the very end of Tuesday night’s affair in Los Angles against the Dodgers and were able to pull out a 4-3 win – Image Credit: MLB
With that, the Dodgers wasted a brilliant performance by Justin Wrobleski (10-2, 2.69 ERA), who left with a 3-1 lead and a line of seven innings pitched, six scattered hits, one run, two walks, and nine strikeouts. He threw 94 pitches, 73 for strikes. An outing like that usually results in a win.
The 47,806 in the ballpark did see something special, though, as Shohei Ohtani, leading off the top of the first inning, hit the third pitch he saw, a 93-MPH sinker, 409-feet into the center field pavilion. Home run No. 20 on the season for Ohtani and the 300th of his career—becoming the fifth-fastest player in baseball history to leave the yard 300 times (1,102 games).
“He just had a birthday, still young, still strong, so I definitely think 500 (career home runs) is in his future,” said LA manager Dave Roberts of Ohtani who just turned 32.
By the way, he pitches too. At an All-Star level.
That one swing will live in history but it wasn’t enough for a Dodger win. Also, leaving nine men on base didn’t help.
But the player who put the brakes on this Dodger lineup and star of the night, was Juan Mejia, from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The 26-year-old flamethrowing right-hander came into the game, and the first batter he had to face was Ohtani, who saw four pitches, including three blistering 99-MPH fastballs.
With a 4-3 lead, Mejia then retired the middle of the order one, two, three in the bottom of the eighth inning as he continued to blow LA’s hitters away with 99-MPH smoke, and would eventually pick up the win (2-6, 5.79 ERA). A very impressive showing for this young reliever and perhaps one that gets him in a productive rhythm.
Juan Mejia could potentially be a name to watch on the reliever market ahead of MLB’s Trade Deadline on August 3rd – Image Credit: MLB
“Juan has really thrown the ball well the past three or four times out,” said Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer of Mejia, allowing one run on two hits (1 HR) and two walks across the month of July with six strikeouts.
Up Next: The rubber game Wednesday night to complete a three-game NL West division series between two clubs who are headed in opposite directions. Even with the loss, the Dodgers are in first place in the NL West, with an MLB-best 60-33 record, 14 games ahead of the Diamondbacks and Padres, meanwhile, Colorado is 38-55, the second-worst record in baseball, 22 games behind the Dodgers in the division.
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