The Dodgers used huge fourth and seventh innings Monday afternoon as they pounded the Rockies, 16-6. 15 of the 16 runs were scored in those two innings alone.
As if scoring seven runs in one inning and eight in another isn't amazing enough, they didn't have one home run today. Of their 19 hits, only three were for extra bases (doubles by Jamie Hoffmann and Casey Blake, and a triple by Juan Pierre). Basically it was a plethora of singles being slapped all over the place.
The game was scoreless through three, then the Dodgers let loose. Starting with Orlando Hudson, 11 men came to the plate, gathering seven runs on seven hits. Hudson, Blake, Matt Kemp, and James Loney all singled to start the onslaught.
The big blow of the fourth was when Juan Pierre hit a bases-clearing triple, scoring Juan Castro, Loney, and Eric Stults. Russell Martin's RBI single gave the Dodgers a touchdown lead at 7-0.
The final score won't show this, but the Rockies made this a close game starting in the bottom of the fourth. Clint Barmes' RBI double got them on the board, but Stults got out of the inning.
Stults turned out to be his own worst enemy in the fifth, as he started walking everybody and their mother. Three straight walks with one down got him the hook and destroyed any chance of him earning the win. And that's kind of sad considering he was up six runs to start the inning.
Jeff Weaver relieved and didn't do much better. Brad Hawpe's two-run double was the big blow, and it was quickly 7-5. A sac-fly RBI by Troy Tulowitzki in the sixth made it 7-6, and it was suddenly a brand new game.
That was short-lived, however, as the Dodgers again unloaded in the seventh. RBIs were hit by Hoffmann, Castro (two), Martin, Hudson (two), Blake, and Kemp. If the Rockies weren't walking hitters, they were watching balls being sprayed in all directions as the Dodgers found just about every opening possible to get a hit.
The scoreboard would seem to indicate a typical Coors Field game, but that wasn't the case. Despite 22 runs and 27 hits, none of them were homers. That's pretty crazy. You would think at least one of the runs would come from the long ball, but it didn't.
Neither team can claim their pitchers did well (especially the Rockies), but Stults has to be kicking himself for blowing a chance to go 5-1. He just couldn't throw a strike in the fifth to save his life. He did have a sore thumb, causing him to miss his last start, so maybe it was still bothering him. Who knows.
Eric Milton will go tomorrow, and he hasn't pitched since receiving a no-decision on May 16 in Florida. I would think his time in the rotation is numbered with reports of Hiroki Kuroda rehabbing. But, perhaps a strong start will keep him with the big club longer.
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