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MEDIA CLIPS – April 9, 2017 Rare air: Rockies hit three HRs off Kershaw By Ken Gurnick and Thomas Harding / MLB.com DENVER -- Mark Reynolds and Gerardo Parra delivered back-to-back homers off Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw -- something he had never experienced -- to lift the Rockies to a 4-2 victory at Coors Field on Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 48,012. "It doesn't surprise me," Reynolds said when it was noted consecutive homers off Kershaw had never happened. "He's tough. He just left a couple pitches up in the zone, and me and Parra put good swings on them. "You've got to pick a pitch. His slider is tough. His heater, he elevates. His curveball, it's tough sledding. You've got to hope he makes a mistake. He made three of them tonight." There was more homer history off Kershaw, a three-time National League Cy Young Award winner. Because Nolan Arenado homered in the first inning, the game was the third time that Kershaw had given up three homers in a game. Two have been against the Rockies. "I know he felt good, he had good stuff, it's just one of those things with good hitters," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Kershaw's outing. Arenado's homer, his second, also was a one-of-a kind feat. It came on a 75 mph curveball, and was just the fourth on a Kershaw curve since Statcast™ began tracking in 2015. Arenado's was the hardest-hit (103.7 mph) and farthest projected distance (431 feet) on a homer on a Kershaw bender. 1 Reynolds continued his hot start -- and broke a 1-1 tie, with a homer to left field with Arenado on base courtesy of a bloop single. Parra followed with his first of the year. Interestingly, Parra is a career .364 (12-for-33) hitter off Kershaw; the homer was his first, but he has three doubles and a triple. More >> Kershaw (1-1), who was 10-0 in his previous 11 starts against the Rockies, gave up four runs on eight hits and struck out six in six innings. "Knowing Clayton like I do from the other dugout, he's a tough customer -- as tough as anybody in the Major Leagues," said Rockies manager Bud Black, who faced Kershaw often while running the Padres 2007-15. "You've got to do everything you can, every at-bat. You've got to make it as hard on him as possible." More >> Rockies righty starter Jon Gray held the Dodgers to one run -- Andrew Toles' first homer of the season, with two out in the fifth -- on four hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings. Manager Bud Black gave Gray a shot at completing six, but Adrian Gonzalez singled. Mike Dunn (2-0) completed the inning and began a bullpen effort that ended with Greg Holland's fourth save. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Switcheroo just in time: Black gave Carlos Gonzalez a rest from the lineup, then accidentally had his corner outfielders -- Parra and Stephen Cardullo -- in the wrong positions. He corrected it, and it paid off when Parra, who started in his familiar left field, made a four-star play (32 percent catch expectancy) in the fourth, diving forward to grab a Yasiel Puig liner to end the frame with two runners on base. He covered 33 feet in the opportunity time of 2.9 seconds. And the route was nearly perfect. Did he know where the ball would land and how much time he had when it was hit? "It's hard to say," Parra said. "There's adrenaline in baseball. I know when he hit it. I was thinking slide and go catch it. There's only one opportunity. Catch it or drop it. It's good for me I caught it." Parra also made a leaping catch to end the third on Corey Seager's drive. And Black's lineup move kept giving in the sixth when Cardullo, who ended up playing right and looked more comfortable there than left in Spring Training, made a sliding catch on a Kershaw liner. Gray's escape: Gray had a high pitch count -- 96, with 53 strikes -- and just one strikeout, but hung in against what could become a marquee matchup if the Rockies improve their lot. But his biggest pitch may have come in the third, after Kershaw led off with a single to left. Gray killed the momentum by forcing Toles into a double-play grounder to first. 2 Even on a night of inefficiency, Gray left happy with the team's win and with holding the Dodgers to a single run. "It's a lot of fun going up against a guy like [Kershaw]; it almost makes the game worth a lot more to you," Gray said. "It's a moment I cherish. If I get more of those opportunities, it's a good thing." QUOTABLE "After it happened, I think he knew it was a base-running mistake." -- Roberts, on Yasiel Puig caught stealing third base down three runs to end the seventh inning SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS The Rockies were part of other homer history against Kershaw. The last time he gave up more than one in an inning was April 26, 2009, to the Rockies' Clint Barmes and Ryan Spilborghs. Word may get around that running on Rockies catcher Dustin Garneau is not a great idea. In parts of two seasons, he has throw out 12 of 27 runners on steal attempts. WHAT'S NEXT Dodgers: Kenta Maeda starts in Sunday's 12:10 p.m. PT series finale and has been effective against the Rockies, going 2-2 with a 1.90 ERA in four career starts. But the Dodgers are 0-2 this year and were 22-24 last year against left-handed starters. 3 Rockies savor big night against Dodgers' ace By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | 1:15 AM ET DENVER -- Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado didn't just strategize about facing Dodgers star left-hander Clayton Kershaw on Saturday night. He practically meditated about it. "I kind of set myself up, I told myself: 'This is what I'm going to do today. I'm going to commit to it every at-bat,' and that's what I did," Arenado said. "I'm not going to say exactly what I did but it paid off in the first at-bat." Maybe the Rockies have osmosis working. Arenado clubbed a rare homer off a Kershaw curveball --the fourth since Statcast™ began tracking in 2015 -- in the first inning. In the sixth, Mark Reynolds and Gerardo Parra hit consecutive homers -- the first time that had occurred in Kershaw's career -- as the Rockies took a 4-2 victory at Coors Field. The successful approaches of Rockies' hitters was every bit as notable as the rare home run trivia. Kershaw has gone 10- 0 in his last 11 starts against them, but these Rockies forced him out of the game after managing eight hits in six innings. Arenado added a bloop single in the sixth, which made Reynolds' homer a two-run shot. Charlie Blackmon, who entered 2-for-19, tripled and singled. Trevor Story finished the night at .190 but he bested Kershaw for his third double. Then there were the homers. "We put some good swings on him," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "There was the breaking ball that Nolan hit, and the next two homers were fastballs that we just got on top of. They were barreled up. That doesn't happen. "He chewed us up a few times inside. The slider was good, as usual. We just stayed on him and squared up a couple balls." Kershaw wasn't himself, but he still showed good stuff. He struck out six with no walks, and to score the Rockies had to hit home runs. 4 "I think my stuff is fine," Kershaw said. "I just had some bad pitches there and tonight they went over the fence. It wasn't great obviously but I don't know. I'm going to try and get better for the next one." Reynolds' homer was his third during a hot start, as he's now hitting .409. "You know how baseball is," Reynolds said. "You know you can play here. You get a couple hits, get some confidence and ride it out as long as you can do it." Parra had two hits off Kershaw to bring his career average against him to .364. But Parra cherishes every hit. "He's the best pitcher right now in the big leagues," said Parra, who said he had no idea why he happily tapped his batting helmet as he rounded first base on the homer. "I just wanted to put the ball in play. I don't want to try to do too much. I know he's a nasty pitcher." 5 Confident Estevez proving unflappable By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | 1:15 AM ET DENVER -- Rockies righty reliever Carlos Estevez faced a situation Friday that could've tested his resolve. Estevez entered in the seventh with the Rockies leading the Dodgers, 2-1, after lefty starter Kyle Freeland's successful six innings. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had saved dangerous left-handed bats. But facing Corey Seager or, two batters later, Andrew wasn't going to get into Estevez's head. Estevez's mind was buoyed by the story of Apple founder Steve Jobs. He was strengthened by learning of the successes and failures of future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera.

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