The Los Angeles Dodgers extended their franchise-record streak of games to start the season with a home run, but it was their situational hitting that shined in a 7-2 win over the Colorado Rockies.
It guaranteed the Dodgers another series victory and extended their winning streak to four games. This season marks the first time in the Dodgers’ stretch of six consecutive National League West titles that they won the first three series of a season.
Cody Bellinger continued his hot hitting as he finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored, one double, one triple and one RBI. He followed a Justin Turner hit by pitch with a double to give the Dodgers a pair of runners in scoring position with one out in the fourth inning.
A.J. Pollock lined an RBI single into center field and Max Muncy drove in another run on a sacrifice fly before Jon Gray could get out of the inning. When Turner singled in the sixth inning, Bellinger followed that with a triple to give him an MLB-best 17 RBI this season. Pollock then drove Bellinger home on a sac fly.
Alex Verdugo’s solo home run gave the Dodgers at least one home run in all nine games to start this season. It moved them closer to the all-time NL leaders, the 1954 Chicago Cubs who homered in 13 straight games.
Walker Buehler again lacked his usual command, though still managed to get through five innings. The Rockies attacked early in the first inning, allowing Buehler to retire the side in order on just eight pitches.
He wasn’t nearly as efficient in the second but wiped out a leadoff single by inducing a double play and stranded a two-out walk by getting Pat Valaika to go down swinging. The strikeout was Buehler’s first of the season and one of four on the night.
David Dahl’s two-out solo home run in the fourth inning was all the Rockies managed to scratch against the young right-hander. Charlie Blackmon stranded a pair when he grounded out to end the fifth.
While the Dodgers bullpen preserved the lead, it was not without some tense moments. Specifically in the eighth inning, when Yimi Garcia was removed after one-plus innings. Caleb Ferguson inherited the leadoff single but wasn’t long for the game as he walked Charlie Blackmon on four pitches.
That left the heart of the Rockies lineup to Dylan Floro, who nearly kept them at bay by retiring Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado. But Dahl’s RBI single prompted Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to call on Kenley Jansen for a four-out save.
The appearance was Jansen’s first at Coors Field since suffering an irregular heartbeat in Denver last August.
The Dodgers aided Jansen’s effort with insurance runs in the top of the ninth, thanks to Verdugo’s RBI triple and Austin Barnes’ sacrifice fly.
