Rockies Fight Back, but Lose in Extras

     The Colorado Rockies showed a lot of heart and fight on Friday night but it was not enough to beat the Dodgers as they lost 7-5 in 10 innings. Facing a 5-0 deficit as well as one of the best pitchers in the game of baseball in Clayton Kershaw, the Rockies never gave up and began to chip away at the Dodger lead. The Rockies began their comeback in the fourth inning with an RBI single from Michael Cuddyer as well as an RBI ground out by Wilin Rosario. The score remained 5-2 until the bottom of the 8th inning when a run came home to score when Wilin Rosario grounded into a double play. Heading into the bottom of the ninth the Rockies were still down by two runs when Todd Helton came in as a pinch hitter to face closer Brandon League with a run on. On the 11th pitch of the at bat, Todd Helton crushed a home run to the second deck in right field and it was now a new game. Rafael Betancourt came on in the tenth and gave up two runs. The Rockies could not counter back in the bottom half of the inning and the final score of the game was 7-5 in 10 innings.

     Jon Garland was unimpressive again in his start and failed to make it into the sixth inning again. His final line on the night was five innings allowing seven hits, five runs, three walks and struck out only one batter. He tok a no decision on the day and his season ERA is now 5.81. He continues to disappoint on the mound and it begs the question if it is finally time to cut ties with the veteran pitcher. Clayton Kershaw was not as dominant as he has been during many of his other starts this year but at the end of the day he had another impressive start and was in line to take the victory until the bullpen blew the lead in the ninth inning. His final line was seven innings allowing eight hits, three runs, two walks and five strikeouts. Brandon League picked up the victory for the Dodgers after blowing the save opportunity in the ninth inning. It was his third blown save on the year, however he was able to keep the game tied after nine and pick up his first win. He is now 1-2 with a 5.31 ERA. Rafael Betancourt took the loss on the night after giving up two runs in the top of the tenth. Betancourt is now 1-3 on the year with a 3.20 ERA. This was the second loss given up by Betancourt in less than a week, perhaps hinting that there may be more to the groin injury that he sustained a week and a half ago.

     The two teams will continue their series on Saturday as Jhoulys Chacin (3-3) for the Rockies will be taking on Zach Greinke (2-1) for the Dodgers. First pitch for game two is set for 2:10 PM Mountain time.