The Dodgers and Rockies were locked in a tight struggle for most of Friday night. Fortunately for the Dodgers, they got the big hit when they needed it most.
Matt Kemp's RBI triple scored Jamey Carroll in the sixth, and great bullpen work kept the lead as the Dodgers won, 6-5. Jeff Weaver's brief appearance was good enough to get him win #100 in his career.
Both teams exchanged runs in the second. Troy Tulowitzki walked, stole second, and went to third on a grounder. Ian Stewart's sac-fly RBI scored him to make it 1-0. Casey Blake led off with a double, and he scored on Carroll's RBI single to knot it up.
From there, it was a battle of both teams looking to take control. The Dodgers grabbed the lead back in the third, as Kemp reached on an error by Ian Stewart. After stealing second, Kemp scored on Andre Ethier's single, and it was 2-1.
The Rockies got that run right back in the fourth on Carlos Gonzalez's RBI single. They then took a temporary lead the next inning. Once again, it was Gonzalez doing the damage with a sac-fly RBI, and it was 3-2.
The Dodgers got their bats going in the fifth, starting with Xavier Paul's leadoff double. Ethier got another big hit with an RBI double to tie the game. Blake singled to score Ethier, and Russell Martin followed that up with a run-scoring single of his own, and the Dodgers grabbed the lead at 5-3.
At this point, Hiroki Kuroda had been struggling to maintain control. He once again couldn't hold onto the lead, as the Rockies tied the game. Eric Young pinch-hit and tripled to right. Seth Smith scored him with a single. George Sherrill entered to pitch to Todd Helton, and Helton lifted a sac-fly that plated Smith, making it 5-5.
The game would then become a battle of the bullpens. Carroll greeted Matt Daley with a double to begin the bottom of the sixth. With two outs and Carroll on third, Kemp hit a fly ball that landed just between center and right, rolling to the wall for a triple that scored Carroll.
With the score 6-5, the Dodgers' bullpen came through. It started with Ramon Troncoso, who worked around two baserunners in the seventh to get out of the inning, then set the side down in order in the eighth.
Jonathan Broxton came on for the save, fresh off a blown one the night before. It looked like it might happen again, as Gonzalez used a long at-bat to single to left. Gonzalez got greedy, though, as he was gunned out by Russell Martin trying to steal. Two strikeouts later, and the game was over.
On a night where Kuroda couldn't get his command, the bats came through. They only had nine hits, but Kemp, Blake, Carroll, and Martin all had RBIs with two down. On the flip side, the Rockies had 11 hits, but stranded 11 on base. That was the difference in this one.
With a good start to this series, the Dodgers will give another start to Charlie Haeger on Saturday. Haeger pitched very well in relief against the Brewers on Tuesday, so that possibly earned him this start. He'll look to get the Dodgers out of the cellar of the NL West.
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