DENVER (AP) — First Julio Urías. Now Walker Buehler.
That's back-to-back off outings from key cogs in a Los Angeles rotation that boasted the best ERA in baseball. Logging too many innings? Wearing down?
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had a simpler explanation: "All guys have some bit of fatigue right now,” he said.
Sam Hilliard lined a three-run homer, C.J. Cron had four hits and the Colorado Rockies snapped a five-game skid at Coors Field by beating the NL West title-chasing Dodgers 10-5 on Wednesday night.
The Dodgers fell two games behind division-leading San Francisco, which beat San Diego 8-6.
This had all the makings of a pitchers' duel with All-Stars Buehler and Germán Márquez on the mound. Instead, it was anything but, as the teams combined for 19 hits, including three homers and even a two-run double from Márquez that chased his counterpart from the game.
“My job is to set the tone," Buehler said. "I didn’t do that.”
Buehler gave up five runs over 3 2/3 innings in his career-high 31st start of the season. He refuses to blame it on the volume of innings. Urías echoed a similar chorus the night before.
“It’s a me problem and something I need to address and figure out," Buehler said. "We have a great team and a lot of guys that are really talented. I want to be a cog in that. I want to fit in. Right now, I’m not even doing that.”
Luke Raley displayed his power by drilling a two-run homer to center in the fourth inning that was measured by Statcast at 472 feet. It's tied for the Dodgers' third-longest tracked by Statcast since 2015.
His mom was on hand, too. It's the first time she's got to see him play in the big leagues.
“It's really awesome I was able to do that today in front of her,” Raley said.
There was a big collision in the seventh when Charlie Blackmon ran into reliever Alex Vesia on a dribbler up the first-base line. Blackmon's helmet went flying and Vesia tumbled to the ground, losing control of the baseball. Blackmon reached on an error credited to Vesia, who took a few warmup pitchers before continuing.
Vesia gave up a run-scoring double to Cron. Hilliard later connected on a three-run homer after the Dodgers intentionally walked Elias Díaz to pitch to him. Hilliard's 12th homer of the season made it 10-5.
An inning after the collision, Blackmon came up again and was hit by a pitch from Evan Phillips.
Robert Stephenson (2-1) earned the win for the Rockies, who are 6-12 against the Dodgers this season. Dodgers reliever Justin Bruihl (0-1) took the loss.
“It’s cool to see the kind of growth that we’ve had as a team and as an offense,” Rockies shortstop Trevor Story said. “We’re playing complete games right now.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: OF Chris Taylor was out of the starting lineup as he dealt with a sore neck. ... Outfielder AJ Pollock (hamstring) was activated from the injured list. He grounded out in a pinch-hitting role in the sixth.
Rockies: Manager Bud Black said OF/INF Connor Joe’s season is officially over due to a nagging hamstring injury. ... Rockies RHP Peter Lambert will make his first start since Sept. 20, 2019 on Friday. He had Tommy John surgery in July 2020.
LATE RULING
Justin Turner brought home a run on a fly out to right with the bases loaded in the fifth. But he wasn't initially credited with an RBI after Trea Turner wandered too far off second base and was tagged out. It initially went down as a 9-6 double play. But Elias Sports Bureau later ruled it a sacrifice fly and credited Turner with his 82nd RBI of the season.
BROADCASTERS SIDELINED
Joe Davis will be missing from Dodgers broadcasts after testing positive for the coronavirus. He was fully vaccinated, the team said in a statement, and will isolate at home. Orel Hershiser also will quarantine due to close contact.
THIS & THAT
Rockies infielder Brendan Rodgers hit a solo homer. ... Cron is 7 for 10 with four doubles in this series against the Dodgers. ... Márquez allowed five runs in four innings. “He got caught up in the moment of an impactful game and came out of his delivery," Black explained.
UP NEXT
Dodgers right-hander Max Scherzer enters his start Thursday against Colorado with an 11-game win streak and an MLB-best 2.08 ERA. The Rockies will throw lefty Kyle Freeland, who's 3-3 with a 5.36 ERA at Coors Field this season.
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This story has been corrected to show that Luke Raley hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, not the third inning.
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