Clayton Kershaw pitched with the same fastball velocity he had during Spring Training and the Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t put forth their most focused effort in an 8-5 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Opening Day.
The Dodgers scored first, but in odd fashion and they were shorted because of a baserunning mistake. After Justin Turner led off the third inning with a single, Cody Bellinger followed with what appeared to be a two-run home run.
Turner saw Raimel Tapia initially make a catch, but didn’t recognize he lost control of the ball and it went into the stands upon colliding with the fence. So Turner began to sprint back after rounding second base, which resulted in being passed by Bellinger on the bases.
Bellinger was ruled out, credited with just one RBI and a single since he and Turner crossed between first and second base.
Kershaw was efficient for most of the afternoon but hurt by some bad luck and sloppy play behind him. After Mookie Betts lost a Chris Owings drive to right field for a leadoff triple, Max Muncy overran his attempt to field a squeeze play that brought in the tying run.
Josh Fuentes’ RBI single with two outs then gave Colorado a 2-1 lead. Then in the fifth inning, the Rockies put the first two batters on and saw each come across to put the Dodgers in a 4-2 deficit.
Muncy charged a sacrifice bunt well but couldn’t get the ball out of his glove, resulting in his only play being at first base. An RBI groundout followed but then Seager failed to make a routine play on a ball that went under his glove and brought in the second run.
Kershaw did his part to contribute at the plate as well, including with a leadoff single in the sixth inning. The Dodgers went on to load the bases with nobody out, scored a run on Turner’s sacrifice fly and tied it behind Gavin Lux’s two-out RBI single.
However, the Rockies immediately responded in the bottom half of the inning. Kershaw allowed three straight base hits, amounting to Colorado taking a 5-4 lead. The Dodgers benefitted from an out at home plate, but Kershaw couldn’t get through the inning as Raimel Tapia hit an RBI single.
He allowed 10 hits over 5.2 innings, none of which went for extra bases and many that simply found holes. Though, Kershaw only managed two strikeouts and five swings and misses.
Colorado extended their lead in the seventh inning by scoring two runs on two wild pitches by Jimmy Nelson.
The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, only for pinch-hitter Matt Beaty to strike out three pitches and Betts softly lined out.
Next for Dodgers
Trevor Bauer makes his regular season debut Friday night, with the Rockies starting Antonio Senzatela.
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