DENVER _ Before they exacted some revenge in their 10-5 win Sunday the Los Angeles Dodgers emerged from two losses to the Colorado Rockies slightly stupefied. All season long they had, for the most part, avoided the self-induced ugly inning propelled by defensive gaffes. But they endured one on Friday and another on Saturday. Both fueled defeats. Both left the Dodgers annoyed but confident they were just blips.
On Sunday, the Dodgers composed their own big inning _ a six-run sixth _ to overtake another Rockies outburst _ a four-run fifth _ and seal a series split in a game that plodded across four hours. They return to Los Angeles after a 3-4 trip with a 12-game lead in the National League West.
The Dodgers sent 11 batters to the plate in the sixth. Edwin Rios, Enrique Hernandez and Russell Martin ignited the surge with consecutive singles off right-hander Chad Bettis. With the bases loaded, Bettis plunked Justin Turner, pinch-hitting in the pitcher's spot, with a fastball on the left elbow to push a run across and make it 4-4. Joc Pederson delivered a two-run single to give the Dodgers a 7-4 lead before Matt Beaty lashed a double to drive in another run.
They tacked another run on Cody Bellinger's fielder's choice groundball, which would've been an inning-ending double play had pitcher Jesus Tinoco not dropped the throw from second base at first base. Max Muncy capitalized on the gaffe with a run-scoring single to open a 9-4 lead.
The day began with Kenta Maeda continuing his unusual success at Coors Field. The right-hander is an outlier. He entered Sunday with a 3.00 earned-run average in nine appearances at the mile-high ballpark, including six starts. The ERA ranked second among active pitchers with at least 30 innings logged. Adam Wainwright's 2.21 is first.
For four slow-paced innings, it appeared as though that number was going to drop. Maeda gave up one hit _ a triple to Tony Wolters in the third inning _ and issued two walks in the four inning. The fifth, however, began with trouble.
Garrett Hampson and Wolters each delivered singles before Ian Desmond struck out to bring up Charlie Blackmon for the third time. And despite his strong outing, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts decided to pull Maeda rather than letting the left-handed-hitting Blackmon get a third shot at Maeda.
Before the game, Roberts said Julio Urias, the Dodgers' left-handed long reliever, was ready to pitch three innings Sunday. But Roberts chose to insert Zac Rosscup, a left-hander that the Dodgers designated for assignment in November before the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays designated him for assignment this season. The Dodgers signed him to a minor-league deal and called him up Friday, hoping he could get left-handed batters out. On Sunday, he didn't.
Blackmon reached base on an RBI infield single and David Dahl cracked a three-run home run to vault the Rockies ahead 4-3. That concluded Rosscup's brief outing. Dylan Floro entered and allowed consecutive hits, but escaped via an inning-ending double play, keeping the Dodgers within striking distance to avoid their first three-game losing streak since mid-April.
