One night after Clayton Kershaw’s dominant outing, Walker Buehler matched him with 11 strikeouts in one fewer inning, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-1 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Buehler didn’t hand out any free passes, marking the sixth start in his career with at least 11 strikeouts and zero walks. He retired the first 11 batters faced before losing a perfect game on Charlie Blackmon’s two-out single in the fourth inning.
Blackmon entered the series opener leading the Majors in batting average but hitless in his past two games. Blackmon finished the night 1-for-4. He had an opportunity to help the Rockies cut into their deficit and potentially tie the game, only to strike out in the sixth inning.
Buehler then retired Nolan Arenado, stranding runners at second and third base and preserving the Dodgers’ lead. Buehler had complete command of his fastball and effectively mixed in secondary pitches to keep the Rockies off-balance.
L.A. jumped ahead in the first inning behind doubles from Joc Pederson and Cody Bellinger. It was an encouraging sign for both considering their struggles this season, and more proof that Bellinger may be rounding into form. He reached in three of four plate appearances.
Matt Beaty’s RBI single in the fourth inning extended the Dodgers’ lead to 2-0, and Corey Seager’s extra-base hit doubled it. Austin Barnes’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth offset the run the Rockies pushed across in the top half of the inning.
Although Barnes provided the Dodgers with insurance, his eight-game hitting streak came to an end.
The Dodgers’ bullpen continued with his collective stellar performance this season, as Adam Kolarek, Caleb Ferguson and Kenley Jansen each tossed a scoreless inning.
Dodgers in the standings
The Dodgers became the first team in baseball to 20 wins and opened up a six-game lead over the Rockies in the National League West standings. Colorado, once the team being chased by the Dodgers and San Diego Padres, have now lost five games in a row.
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