Dodgers begin Mookie-less stretch with victory over Rockies
DENVER — The Dodgers mustered plenty of scoring and passed their first test since losing offensive catalyst Mookie Betts to the injured list with a fractured left hand.
Shohei Ohtani doubled twice among his three hits, scored a pair of runs and drove in a run from the leadoff spot in place of Betts, and the NL West-leading Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 9-5, on Monday night at Coors Field.
Miguel Rojas, who is expected to get the bulk of the playing time at shortstop while Betts is sidelined, chipped in with three hits, including an RBI double. And he deftly handled his defensive chores in the field. Jason Heyward had a two-run single among his three hits and Freddie Freeman drew a career-high five walks, scoring twice. Will Smith had a run-scoring triple, Teoscar Hernandez added an RBI double and Cavan Biggio had an RBI single.
“It was a great performance across the board,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Miggy had a great night offensively and he was solid as always at short. Shohei sliding into the leadoff spot seamlessly was big, just up and down the line we got contributions.”
Freeman said the team’s depth and character will help the Dodgers ride out the team’s injury troubles.
“We have a lot of good guys in this group, a lot of veteran guys,” Freeman said. “A lot of us have been on teams that have lost people to injuries. But we’ve got a good group to hold it down.”
Still, Freeman conceded losing Betts and standout pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to injury on successive days over the weekend was a serious blow that will continue to test the team in the weeks ahead.
“Injuries are a part of this game, part of the grind of a season,” Freeman said. “You don’t think you’re going to lose two guys, the two guys that we lost on back-to-back days but that’s what happened. And no one is going to feel bad for us. But I think the game we played was huge for us and we’ll just hold it down until they get back.”
Dodgers starter James Paxton more than held up his end from the mound. Paxton (7-1) allowed one run on two hits in seven innings in his second straight strong outing since absorbing his only loss of the season on June 5, when he couldn’t get out of the second inning as part of a 10-6 defeat at Pittsburgh.
Paxton had eight strikeouts and finished with a flourish, striking out the side in his final inning.
“We had the good fastball, and the curveball was good, getting swings and misses at the bottom, so that was big,” Paxton said. “Will (Smith) did a great job of pushing buttons back there and it worked out.”
The only real damage the Rockies managed to inflict on Paxton was Jacob Stallings’ leadoff home run in the second inning. J.P. Feyereisen relieved Paxton to start the eighth and was one out away from finishing when pinch-hitter Greg Jones homered for his first major league hit.
Michael Toglia and Elehuris Montero then hit successive doubles and Hunter Goodman homered before Feyereisen fanning Alan Trejo for the game’s final out.
Leading 5-0, the Dodgers added two more runs in the eighth. Ohtani started the inning by drawing a walk, stole second on a play that survived replay review, and then went to third when reliever Geoff Hartlieb was called for a balk. One out later, Freeman was walked intentionally. Hernandez also walked to load the bases before Heyward came on to deliver a two-out, two-run single to right.
Gavin Lux had an RBI double in the ninth and Smith drove in his second run of the night with a sacrifice fly. Freeman, with a chance to tie the major league record with a sixth walk, worked the count to 2-and-2 against Justin Lawrence before singling sharply to right, extending his hitting streak to seven games.
“I was not going to walk. I was swinging,” Freeman said with a smile.
The Dodgers took command early against Colorado starter Cal Quantrill, scoring three times in the first two innings. And they finished strong, scoring six runs in the final three innings.
Quantrill (6-5) went five innings and allowed three runs on seven hits.