April 25--REPORTING FROM DENVER -- This ballpark can break a team's spirit. Yet there Chase Utley stood at second base of Coors Field, the lone Dodger on the field, clapping his hands with the sort of emotion he so rarely allows to leak into public view. After a frightful collapse by his team, Utley provided the go-ahead double Sunday as the Dodgers escaped this place with a 12-10 victory over the Rockies.
Moments before Utley's hit, Colorado closer Jake McGee unleashed a wild pitch that let the Dodgers tie the score. McGee blew a three-run lead as the Dodgers put together a five-run inning for the comeback.
The Dodgers had let a six-run lead evaporate thanks to shoddy relief pitching and sloppy fielding. Alex Wood gave up five runs in five innings, in part hurt by a mysterious mistake in left field by rookie Trayce Thompson. Chris Hatcher looked flammable once more, giving up three runs only two days after a meltdown here. The Rockies pounded Luis Avilan for two more runs after Manager Dave Roberts removed Hatcher.
The thin air and high altitude can disrupt the confidence of any pitching staff. But the trouble with the relief corps, Hatcher especially, has been a consistent issue during the first three weeks of the season. Hatcher, the nominal setup man, has a 7.27 earned-run average.
The Rockies battered Hatcher in the eighth inning. Asked to hold a two-run lead, he could not even record two outs. He served up a leadoff double to backup catcher Dustin Garneau. A single by pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn pulled the Rockies to within 7-6.
Colorado gifted Hatcher an out by laying down a bunt. Hatcher returned the favor by walking rookie Trevor Story. Roberts had seen enough. He turned to Avilan, who had been in the minors until Thursday.
Avilan gave up a run-scoring hit to Carlos Gonzalez to make it 7-7, and Puig charged the ball with too much gusto and overran it in right field. Story scored the go-ahead run on the error, and the day appeared lost.
Only Puig and Pedro Baez were charged with errors on the day. But Thompson's misplay cost Wood. Howie Kendrick looked uneasy at third base. Adrian Gonzalez could not smother a grounder that aided a Rockies run in the sixth.
The lineup drummed Rockies starter Jordan Lyles out of the game in the third inning. Fresh off attending a high school prom the night before, Puig sparked a second-inning rally. Joc Pederson hit his third homer of the season. Corey Seager contributed a two-run triple.
Lyles demonstrated his lack of control in the first inning; at one point, he threw nine consecutive balls as he loaded the bases. The Dodgers punished him for his wildness an inning later.
Pederson led off with a walk. Thompson doubled. Wood grounded into a fielder's choice; Pederson scored, but Thompson was thrown out at third. When Utley hit a grounder toward shortstop Story, the inning looked over.
But Story did not turn a double play. The ball bounced off his glove. He recovered in time to make a throw, which flew wide of second base. Let down by his defense, Lyles walked Seager to load the bases again.
Puig had walked in his first plate appearance. Lyles opened this encounter with a 92-mph fastball inside. The pitch probably would have been called a ball. Puig ripped it into left for a two-run double, anyway. An RBI groundout by Adrian Gonzalez completed the flurry.
Wood gave back a run in the bottom of the second. But his teammates trounced Lyles again in the third.
Lyles tried to nibble on the outer edge of the plate against Pederson, but a 2-2 fastball drifted over the plate. Pederson went deep to right.
Wood nearly did the same two at-bats later. He pounded a single off the fence. Utley singled after him to chase Lyles.
The new pitcher was a reliever named Chris Rusin. Seager greeted him by roping a triple into the alley in right-center. The hit pushed the lead to 7-1, a seemingly comfortable margin even at Coors Field.
But in the fourth, the Rockies closed the gap, aided by Thompson's bizarre misplay. With a runner at second and two outs, Thompson retreated to track a ball hit by outfielder Gerardo Parra. Thompson faced the wall in left, only to realize the error of his read. He spun 180 degrees to see an RBI double fall in front of him.
Wood struggled after Thompson's mistake. He walked second baseman D.J. LeMahieu and gave up an RBI single to Garneau. Kendrick could not make a play on a bunt by Rusin, and suddenly the lead had shrunk to three.
Andy.mccullough@latimes.com
Twitter: @McCulloughTimes
