One team off the heels of a 1-4 skid behind the absence of a consistent offense, the other off to a historic pace at the plate. The results: a proverbial buzzsaw for the Colorado Rockies.
The Rockies, prior to their first meeting with the Los Angeles Dodgers, were the former. After a two-game flawless spree to begin the 2019 slate, the offense has gone cold. Compounding their issues is a rotation that has lacked consistency outside of their top-two spots.
While the Dodgers are without their ace in Clayton Kershaw, their offense was a nightmare draw for the Rockies to open their six-game homestand.
“It’s tough,” Ryan McMahon said. “They’re a good team, but I think we’re a damn good team too. I think we’ll come back tomorrow and we’ll give it to them the best we can.”
After opening the two team’s three-game tilt with a 10-6 victory, the Dodgers added to their already-astronomical numbers.
With three more home runs in their latest derby, the Dodgers sit at 21 on the year including at least one in each of the last 12 games dating back to last season. That total not only leads all of baseball but is more than the Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Angels have combined.
The mark is also second in league history through the first eight games of a single season behind only the St. Louis Cardinals in 2000 (23).
As part of their massive home run totals, they lead the league in on-base plus slugging percentage, runs per game and runs batted in. In their opening weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers pounded their National League West foe for 42 runs in a four-game slate.
Leading the charge for the Dodgers is Cody Bellinger, a top prospect that has lived up to his billing in his three years in the big leagues.
Since his debut in 2017, he’s tied with Paul Goldschmidt for the NL lead in home runs with 70, a mark that he increased with his three-run shot in the opening game against the Rockies. Through 302 games in his young career, he also holds the lead for most home runs by a Dodgers youngster, bypassing Mike Piazza in the early going of his latest campaign.
His latest shot against Tyler Anderson was a product of the momentum he’s created to begin the year.
“The backbreaker was the home run (by) one of the hottest hitters in the National League (Bellinger),” Manager Bud Black said. “As hot as he is, when a guy is going good, that stuff happens.”
Compounding the Rockies horrors was Kenta Maeda, a common thorn in the side of Rockies’ hitters as a Dodger.
Prior to his five innings, allowing only one run in their latest matchup, Maeda carried a 2.30 earned run average in 54.2 innings against the hosts. At Coors Field, those numbers inflated slightly, still sitting at a solid 3.19.
The former free agent from Japan has also posed as the nemesis of the Rockies leader, Nolan Arenado. After another muted effort on Friday, Arenado is now 3-for-26 with 13 strikeouts against Maeda, the worst mark on the team in the two’s large sample size.
With a red-hot offense and ability to shut out the perennial NL Most Valuable Player candidate, the Rockies were doomed in game one.
After scoring five runs in the final three innings though, those woes may be on the verge of subsiding.
“It’s good that we put up a little fight there at the end (of the game),” Trevor Story said. “(We’re) optimistic for tomorrow, get the bats going.”
For now, the Rockies are defeated. As Charlie Blackmon put it though, the club still has 80 more games to right the ship.
