MEDIA CLIPS – Aug. 12, 2018

Rox take finale, series from LA on walk-off walk Colorado now 1 1/2 games behind D-backs for first place By Thomas Harding MLB.com @harding_at_mlb Aug. 12th, 2018

DENVER -- Finally, Chris Iannetta could celebrate.

Iannetta drew a bases-loaded walk from Dodgers reliever Dylan Floro with two out in the bottom of the ninth to give the

Rockies a 4-3 victory and to take three of four games in the series.

The result dropped the Dodgers into second in the National League West and kept the Rockies 1 1/2 games behind the first-place D-backs.

For Iannetta, the homestand was an exercise in bad luck. In Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Pirates, Iannetta was robbed of a possible game-tying single by a diving Adam Frazier. In Friday's opener against the Dodgers, his seventh-inning homer gave the Rockies a 5-3 lead, but some hoary relief pitching led to an 8-5 loss.

"We just want to collect as many wins as possible -- it doesn't matter who it's against," Iannetta said. "We played a phenomenal team in the Dodgers."

With Sunday on the line, Iannetta showed the plate discipline that he foreshadowed at the start of the homestand, when he said he felt past his season-long timing issues. Manager admitted thinking of going to left-handed- hitting Carlos Gonzalez, but decided to stick with his catcher.

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"It was a decision, but we felt good about Chris, and Chris's ability to be selective and get a good pitch to hit," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "He fouled a pitch off. The first pitch looked to be a hanging slider. From there, the kid missed outside of the strike zone.

"That situation, bases loaded, bottom of the ninth, it makes it tough on the ."

DJ LeMahieu opened the ninth with a single to right field off Floro, and took second on Yasiel Puig's bobble. A one-out intentional walk to David Dahl and a two-out intentional pass to Ryan McMahon -- whose homers won the games on

Friday and Saturday -- set up Iannetta.

"I was smiling," said Iannetta, who stormed away unhappily after plate umpire Sean Barber called a looking third strike in the seventh, but finished the day happy. "I wanted it. I wanted that at-bat.". 12th, 2

With Dodgers All-Star closer Kenley Jansen out with an irregular heartbeat, the Dodgers lost the last two games in the ninth. On Saturday, JT Chargois gave up McMahon's three-run homer with the Dodgers leading, 3-0.

The Rockies finished a stretch of 17 straight days of games -- all against either prime contenders or above-.500 teams with hope -- 9-8. For much of it, the offense and bullpen struggled.

But in winning the final three games against the Dodgers, the Rockies began to move past some of the problems.

Closer Wade Davis (2-6), who gave up two home runs while losing Thursday's series opener, overcame a two-out walk for a scoreless top of the ninth. It finished a performance that saw the bullpen give up just one run in the final three contests.

"We've had some things not working at the same time that whole time," said Davis, who suffered blown saves at St. Louis and Milwaukee before Thursday's struggle. "Definitely to come out on top is good.". 12th, 2018

After giving up nine runs in 4 2/3 innings on Monday -- his first start after missing five weeks with a right middle finger blister -- Chad Bettis limited the Dodgers to one run on three hits in 6 1/3 innings, with four walks and three .

"Really, it was just getting back to executing," Bettis said. "I felt like I got away from that a little bit last start. It wasn't anything major that I needed to work on, just minor adjustments that I've already done."

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While Bettis had the lead much of his time on the mound, was almost as effective, going six innings and giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits.

The Rockies benefited from Chris Taylor dropping a pop-up and Yasmani Grandal missing a pitch for a passed ball to set up 's sacrifice fly in the first inning. DJ LeMahieu doubled to lead off the fourth and scored on David

Dahl's single.

Charlie Blackmon's leadoff homer in the sixth -- his 22nd homer of the season -- gave Bettis a 3-0 lead.. 12th, 2018

Daniel Kramer@DKramer_

On an off-plate 2-seamer, left-on-left, lined one into the LF bleachers for his 22nd.

Chuck hits lefties .290, slugs them .426 and dispenses those hits mostly in the gaps. #Rockies

2:49 PM - Aug 12, 2018

Rockies manager Bud Black went to lefty Jake McGee for a left-on-left with Max Muncy, and was rewarded with a . Dodgers manager Dave Roberts played a favorable matchup when Justin Turner lashed a double to the right- field corner. Scott Oberg gave up Brian Dozier's two-run single but struck out Manny Machado.. 12th, 2018

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Black went to Adam Ottavino to start the eighth. Puig singled to left to improve to 6-for-11 against Ottavino, and Cody

Bellinger singled hard off the right-field wall. Matt Kemp tied it with a sacrifice fly, and Ottavino allowed no further scoring.

ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, ARENADO PLANS TO PLAY

All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado missed his second straight start after leaving Friday night's game before the fifth inning with right shoulder soreness. However, he almost made Sunday's start and plans to be in the lineup -- either as third baseman or designated hitter -- Tuesday at Houston.

Arenado grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the eighth. Throwing has been the issue for him. Arenado tested the arm before the game and said the harder, longer throws were not a problem.

"It hurt when I tried to baby it, but when I really let it go it wasn't that bad," Arenado said.

SOUND SMART

Sunday was the second time this season the Rockies won with a game-ending walk. The first one was drawn by Tony

Wolters on April 7 against the Braves. Also, the Rockies have won two straight games in walk-off fashion for the first time since May 18-20, 2014 -- Justin Morneau's homer against the Padres and Arenado's two-run double against the Giants.

UP NEXT

The Rockies and defending World Series champion Astros split two games at Coors July 24-25, and Tuesday starts a two-game set at Houston's Minute Maid Park -- Rockies righty German Marquez (9-9, 4.69 ERA) vs. righty Justin

Verlander (11-7, 2.50) at 6:10 p.m. MT. Marquez's 3.09 road ERA is ninth among qualified National League . He held Milwaukee to three hits and two runs in seven innings in his last road start.

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Of all the Rockies’ issues, guts isn’t one, as demonstrated by series-clinching, walk-off win over Los Angeles Chris Iannetta’s walk-off walk was the difference, while Chad Bettis turned in a strong rebound start in LoDo By KYLE NEWMAN | [email protected] | The Denver Post PUBLISHED: August 12, 2018 at 4:23 pm | UPDATED: August 12, 2018 at 9:00 pm

Of the main factors that will determine Colorado’s homestretch chances at a first divisional title, only continued stellar starting pitching and the stabilization of the bullpen might be more important than guts. The Rockies had to summon that last quality in large quantities to finish off a series victory Sunday at Coors Field over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The club’s third win in four tries against the Dodgers was earned in dramatic fashion for the second consecutive game, with Chris Iannetta‘s walk-off, bases-loaded walk with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning the difference as the

Rockies beat Los Angeles 4-3.

“In order for us to make the playoffs, we need to have big innings and we need to come back from adversity,” said

Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who walked home for the game-winning run. “We’re not going to play perfect every day, but we keep fighting, and the results in the last three games are some incredible wins.”

Colorado remained 1½ games behind NL West-leading Arizona and pulled a half-game behind the second-place

Dodgers.

The Rockies took the momentum right off the bat when shortstop Trevor Story put them ahead with a first-inning sacrifice fly, and David Dahl‘s RBI single pushed Colorado’s lead to 2-0 in the fourth. That was followed by Charlie Blackmon‘s

22nd of the season, this one 369 feet to the opposite field, to make it 3-0.

All the while, starting pitcher Chad Bettis rebounded from an ugly outing last week with six innings of shutout .

“His fastball had pretty good command. His changeup was effective. He got inside to some lefties and painted some balls in to righties,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He had them off balance, which is what Chad does.”

But the Dodgers got going against Colorado in the seventh inning when Bettis was chased from the game after the right- hander issued a one-out walk to Yasmani Grandal.

It was the first of a couple of moments that proved Sunday’s springboard victory, like the two like proceeded it, would not come easy against a Dodgers team laden with the superior offensive depth it demonstrated while blasting five home runs in Colorado’s blown series opener last Thursday.

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“You need the good wins to balance out the tough losses,” Black said. “That sustains a level of where you are, and where you think you can go. If you don’t have emotional wins to counter the tough losses, it makes it tough to sustain momentum.”

Jake McGee came on in relief in the seventh inning and yielded a double to Justin Turner, which set up Brian Dozier’s two-RBI seeing-eye groundball single off Scott Oberg to cut the Rockies’ lead to 3-2. Then, the usually unshakeable Adam Ottavino was dinged for the equalizing run in the ninth via Matt Kemp’s sacrifice fly that scored Yasiel

Puig.

But Wade Davis dug deep to kept the game tied by getting out of a walk-caused jam in the ninth before a LeMahieu single and two intentional walks to Dahl and Ryan McMahon led to Iannetta’s game-deciding at-bat.

“Even though we were at 3-3 there in the ninth, I felt like something was going to happen in our favor,” Bettis said.

“Whatever that late-inning magic is, we’ve got it going right now, and it was a gutsy team win.”

Looking ahead

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Rockies RHP German Marquez (9-9, 4.69) at Astros RHP Justin Verlander (11-6, 2.19), 6:10 p.m., ATTRM

Wednesday: Rockies LHP (6-4, 3.94) at Astros RHP Gerrit Cole (10-4, 2.61), 6:10 p.m., ATTRM

Thursday: Rockies RHP (9-7, 4.81) at Braves RHP Julio Teheran (8-7, 4.37), 5:30 p.m., ATTRM

Friday: Rockies LHP (10-7, 3.02) at Braves LHP Sean Newcomb (10-5, 3.40), 5:35 p.m., ATTRM

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Nolan Arenado held out of Rockies lineup for second straight day in series finale against Los Angeles All-star third baseman exited Friday’s game because of discomfort in right shoulder after By KYLE NEWMAN | [email protected] | The Denver Post PUBLISHED: August 12, 2018 at 12:16 pm | UPDATED: August 12, 2018 at 4:45 pm

Nolan Arenado was held out of the Rockies lineup for the second consecutive day Sunday against the Los Angeles

Dodgers at Coors Field because of shoulder soreness.

The all-star third baseman exited Friday’s game against the Dodgers because of discomfort in his right shoulder after turning a double play in the third inning, and Arenado said the injury was initially caused by a bad habit he developed in which he wasn’t using his legs while he threw.

Colorado delayed posting its lineup to give Arenado more time to get to the ballpark and see how he felt.

“Day games, the guys get here a little bit later and we encourage them to sleep in the best they can,” manager Bud Black said before the game. “Nolan’s getting treatment. At some point he’ll move the arm around, and then we’ll decide.”

The decision came about an hour before the game, after Arenado — in shorts, wearing his hat backward and in a cutoff T- shirt — warmed up in front of the Rockies’ dugout with head trainer Keith Dugger, who threw him easy groundballs to test the arm on throws back. Arenado also threw some slight long toss.

“It feels better today, and it’s gotten slightly better each day for sure,” Arenado said.

Pat Valaika played third base in Arenado’s place, and Arenado came on as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning and grounded out in Colorado’s 4-3 walk-off victory.

With an off day Monday, Arenado’s arm will be on three days’ rest heading into Colorado’s six-game road trip at Houston and Atlanta. And if necessary, he’ll be a designated hitter Tuesday and Wednesday against the Astros.

“He’ll be in the lineup on Tuesday, whether it’s in the field or as the designated hitter,” Black said.

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Iannetta walks in winning run, Rockies beat Dodgers 4-3 By: By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer

DENVER (AP) — Chris Iannetta flung the bat aside as if he got all of the pitch.

In a way, he did — a walk's just as good as a hit, especially with the bases loaded in the ninth.

Iannetta brought in the winning run by drawing a five-pitch walk, and the beat the Los Angeles

Dodgers 4-3 after squandering a late lead Sunday.

"I like my chances against a guy in that situation — someone with their back against the wall and has to make pitches over the plate," the Rockies catcher said.

It was the second walk-off win in as many days for Colorado. Ryan McMahon lined a three-run homer in the ninth on

Saturday.

DJ LeMahieu led off the ninth with a single to right that Yasiel Puig misplayed, allowing LeMahieu to take second. After

David Dahl was intentionally walked with one out, grounded out. McMahon was also walked to load the bases.

Manager Bud Black thought about using pinch-hitter Carlos Gonzalez, but elected to stick with Iannetta, who drew the walk off Dylan Floro (4-3) when the right-hander's sinker missed low.

"I don't get the job done and we go to the next inning. It's not live or die," Iannetta said of the pressure situation. "If he doesn't get the job done, the game's over."

The Rockies took three of four for their first home series win against the Dodgers since April 7-9, 2017. The loss dropped the Dodgers out of a first-place tie with Arizona in the NL West.

It was the third straight game a Dodgers bullpen without Kenley Jansen — who's sidelined with an irregular heartbeat — was tagged with the loss.

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"When you're putting guys in a tough spot in tight situations where every game is close and you can't get any breathing room, it makes it tough on everyone," manager Dave Roberts said.

Wade Davis (2-6) pitched a shaky ninth in a tie game after Colorado failed to earlier protect a 3-0 lead.

Chad Bettis pitched efficiently into the seventh before turning it over to the struggling bullpen.

That's when the Dodgers went to work.

Brian Dozier delivered a two-out, two-run single in the seventh off Scott Oberg. In the eighth, Matt Kemp tied the game at

3 with a sacrifice fly against Adam Ottavino.

Davis got two quick outs in the ninth before walking Dozier, who stole second and then third when the shifted infield wasn't paying attention. Davis retired pinch-hitter Joc Pederson on a grounder to end the inning.

"They bended a little, didn't totally break," Rockies manager Bud Black said.

Bettis went 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run and three singles. It was his second start since returning from the disabled list after a pesky blister on his right middle finger kept him out for a month.

Rich Hill threw six innings and allowed three runs, two earned, as he returned to the mound at Coors Field for the first time since April 23, 2008, when he was with the Chicago Cubs.

His biggest mistake was a two-seam fastball on a 3-2 count that Charlie Blackmon knocked into the left-field bleachers in the sixth. It was Blackmon's first homer since July 31.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Dodgers: LHP Julio Urias will soon pitch three innings at Double-A Tulsa as he takes another step in his rehab from June

2017 shoulder surgery. Urias turned 22 on Sunday.

ARENADO UPDATE

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Rockies All-Star 3B Nolan Arenado was close to playing Sunday, but the team decided to give him another day to rest his sore shoulder. The team has an off day Monday before playing in Houston, where Arenado could play third or be the designated hitter.

"Feels better for sure," Arenado said.

FRUSTRATION

It was a frustrating day for Manny Machado, who went 0 for 4. He broke his bat over his leg after striking out in the seventh. He was lifted in a double-switch in the bottom of the inning.

UP NEXT

Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw (5-5, 2.58 ERA) will go against another ace in San Francisco LHP Madison Bumgarner

(4-4, 2.69) to open a three-game series Monday. Kershaw is 22-10 with a 1.60 ERA in 42 starts versus the Giants.

Rockies: Monday provides the first day off after 17 straight games. The Rockies will open a two-game series at Houston on Tuesday, with RHP German Marquez (9-9, 4.69) taking the mound. The Astros will throw RHP Justin Verlander (11-7,

2.50).

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Paul Klee: Walk it off! "Magic" Rockies take series vs. Dodgers with another wild win By: Paul Klee - Aug 12, 2018 Updated 7 hrs ago | Colorado Springs Gazette

DENVER • Without the proper context of what’s been happening with these Rockies, who live next door to the edge,

Sunday’s dramatics at Coors Field would seem like a one-off oddity.

Hey, they walked-off the Dodgers — on a walk by Chris “Good” Iannetta with two outs in the ninth inning. How crazy is that? Plus, it kept the ol’ Rox smack dab in the middle of a pennant chase. Cool!

Then you grab Ryan “Game-Winner” McMahon to see what he thinks. It was McMahon who, less than 24 hours earlier, had called his walk-off homer “the greatest night of my life.” So I had to ask: Prior to that glorious three-run bomb

Saturday, what had been the greatest night of your life?

“The night before that,” when McMahon hit another game-winning home run, he said, laughing.

See what we’re getting at? This is what the Rockies are now. They are good for Colorado’s baseball soul and a threat to its heart condition. They win games 5-4 (Friday), 3-2 (Saturday) and 4-3 (Sunday). We’re not used to that kind of baseball around these hills, so it seems odd. And if the Rox knocked back a few cold ones out in the left-field bleachers, where

Charlie Blackmon popped one on Sunday, they’d probably tell us it feels odd to them, too.

“I threw like a last-second touchdown in high school,” McMahon said when asked if he has a suitable comparison for this weekend. “Maybe that was it.”

The phrase “late-inning magic” was tossed around the home team’s clubhouse after the Rockies frustrated the Dodgers again, 4-3, in front of 40,559 giddy fans on Sunday. “Magic” is probably a bit much, but you’d have to admit it did feel that way.

“It felt like we were going to win,” said Chad Bettis, who gave the Rox one of the most important starts of the year, a calculated three-hitter over 6 1/3 innings.

“Whatever that late-inning magic is, we have it right now,” Bettis added.

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“He had a shutout into the seventh,” manager Bud Black said. “That’s pretty damn good.”

There’s a flip side to this new kind of baseball. The only teams left to play are really good teams; Colorado’s remaining opponents represent the third-toughest schedule in baseball. So if the Rockies are to hang around, hang around with the

Dodgers and Diamondbacks, who now lead the Rox by only 1.5 games, a couple things will need to happen: Black must be good enough that he’s in the mix for Manager of the Year when it’s over, and the Rockies are going to need more than baby faces and fan favorites coming off the bench.

On the first one: Black had Carlos Gonzalez ready and waiting to pinch hit for Iannetta with the bases loaded in the ninth.

Repeat: Black had the option of CarGo with the bases loaded in the ninth. “As you know,” Black made certain that we noticed. Instead, the skipper stuck with Iannetta, who got the count to 3-1 and laid off a 94-mph sinker that fell out of the strike zone.

Iannetta explained his patience this way: “If I don’t get the job done, we go to the next inning. It’s not live-or-die. If he

(Dodgers reliever Dylan Floro) doesn’t get the job done, game’s over.”

It’s my guess Black also figured that Iannetta would be patient enough to possibly draw a game-winning walk, while we all know CarGo’s going up trying to poke one into the party deck. Black explained his trust in Iannetta this way: “I just liked the way Chris has been feeling at the plate in this series.” Trusted his gut. Nice. The manager has a tough job coming up, and he must keep it up.

And on the second one: In the ninth inning of a tie game between two pennant chasers, the Dodgers yanked Manny

Machado from the lineup. They liked the options on their bench better than they liked the All-Star slugger who could command a $300 million-plus contract next year. After watching this series you almost expect the Dodgers to bring Justin

Turner, Max Muncy, Hank Aaron and Jesus off the bench.

Must be nice. And that’s what the Rockies are dealing with here. It must be almost time to call up Matt Holliday from

AAAlbuquerque, because they’re going to need some juice off the bench.

Like we were saying, the next six weeks are going be like this memorable series against the Dodgers: a lot of fun, a lot of stress, and teetering either way on a one-run game in the ninth.

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Rockies walk off on Dodgers in second straight game to take the series By Drew Creasman - Posted on August 12, 2018 | BSN Denver

DENVER – Colorado Rockies starter Chad Bettis may well have been pitching to stay in the rotation down the stretch.

After his brutal outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates in his first game back off the Disabled List, questions were starting to rise about whether or not Colorado had time to let him get right, or if he might better be served coming out of the bullpen.

For at least one day, though, such conversations can be put to rest. Bettis looked like the version of himself that was this club’s best pitcher over the first two months, pitching over six innings of high-quality baseball against the deadly Los

Angeles Dodgers lineup.

His phenomenal work resulted in a win despite the bullpen giving the 3-0 lead back. Chris Iannetta drew a bases loaded walk in the ninth to give Colorado their second straight walk-off win by a score of 4-3.

The Rockies took advantage of some Dodger mistakes in the bottom of the first, scoring the opening salvo without the benefit of a hit. Charlie Blackmon reached first when Chris Taylor dropped a pop fly behind second base. He moved to second on a passed ball and over to third on a well-executed groundball to the right side off the bat of DJ LeMahieu.

Trevor Story made it two consecutive productive outs for the Rockies when he hit a fly ball to right field that was just deep enough to score Blackmon ahead of Yasiel Puig’s excellent throw.

Bettis ran into his first bit of trouble in the fourth after back-to-back singles from Puig and Cody Bellinger with one out. But

Bettis got Rockie-killer Matt Kemp to fly out to right and Chris Taylor to do the same to center, ending the threat.

Colorado added a second run in the bottom of the fourth after DJ LeMahieu finally got the club into the hit column with a double over Puig’s head in right. Story flew out to center but David Dahl came up with a single back up the middle that hooked into right. Once again, a Rockies baserunner just beat out a throw from Puig, LeMahieu implementing a creative slide to get around the tag. The ball skipped away from the catcher, allowing Dahl to reach second.

Puig got his revenge in the next at-bat when Desmond hit yet another ball to right. Dahl tagged up and tried to reach third but was gunned down by a perfect throw to end the inning.

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Bettis lost his command for a moment in the fifth, issuing a pair of walks to bring Manny Machado to the plate with two out. But again he was able to make the pitch to escape the jam, getting another fly out to center that Blackmon was positioned perfectly to haul in.

He walked the leadoff batter in the sixth but immediately induced a double play from Bellinger in what turned out to be a quick inning.

Colorado got an insurance run in the bottom of that frame on Blackmon’s 22nd home run of the season, staying on a fastball out away from him and driving it over the wall in left for an opposite-field shot in a left-on-left encounter.

Bettis struck out Taylor to open the seventh but walked Yasmani Grandal, prompting Bud Black to go to his bullpen. It was an interesting decision considering Bettis was at just 85 pitches but he had also walked three batters in the last two innings and was pitching his second game after a DL stint.

Jake McGee came on and got a big strikeout of Max Muncy, blowing him away on a 96 mph fastball up and in, but Justin

Turner managed a double to right, putting runners at second and third.

Black went to Scott Oberg against Brian Dozier in the big spot. Dozier took a fastball on the outer edge and hit a grounder up the middle just out of the reach of Story to get the Dodgers on the board, pulling them to within one at 3-2. Oberg struck out Machado to preserve the lead and end the inning.

Adam Ottavino came on in the eighth and surrendered a leadoff soft single to left to Puig. Bellinger followed with a hard line drive off the wall in right, fielded nicely by Dahl who barehanded the baseball and fired it back in to keep him to a single and freeze Puig at third.

Puig was able to trot home for the tying run on a sac fly off the bat of Kemp but Otto recorded the next two outs in quick succession to make sure the Dodgers did not take the lead.

Closer Wade Davis came into the tie game in the ninth and got two outs on two pitches before walking Dozier in a non- competitive at-bat. Then, he allowed Dozier to easily swipe second—and then third without a throw—moving the go- ahead run just 90 feet away from home plate. But he got pinch-hitter Joc Pederson to ground out to short, sending it to the bottom of the ninth.

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LeMahieu led off by slicing one down the right-field line. Puig was playing “no doubles” but couldn’t handle the ball cleanly, allowing DJ to reach second base. Story struck out and Dahl and Ryan McMahon were intentionally walked to load the bases for Iannetta’s walk-off.

FINAL STATS:

Chad Bettis: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K

Jake McGee: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Scott Oberg: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Adam Ottavino: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

WHAT’S NEXT:

After a much-needed day off, the Colorado Rockies head to Houston for another two-game set with the defending champs. German Marquez will face Justin Verlander in the first game with first pitch at 6:10 Mountain Time.

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BSN Exclusive: The rookie who could solve one of the Rockies’ biggest needs By Patrick Lyons - Posted on August 12, 2018 | BSN Denver

DENVER – Friday night’s win against the Los Angeles Dodgers came off the heels of the bullpen providing 3.1 innings of shutout baseball against the NL West leaders, tying the series at one apiece.

Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray had surrendered four earned runs in five innings of work and was approached the one hundred pitch mark having already thrown 97 pitches.

Leading off the sixth inning for the Dodgers was left-handed hitting Max Muncy, who had homered in his previous at bat against Gray. Had he reached base during the inning, fellow left-handed hitter Joc Pederson would also get an opportunity.

In game one of the series Thursday night, both Muncy and Pederson contributed pinch hit home runs off the right-handed pitching Scott Oberg.

Though the left-handed pitching Harrison Musgrave was the first man to warm up in the Rockies bullpen, manager Bud

Black opted to stay with his starter.

After the game, Black explained his decision.

“Jon said he felt fine. I trust Jon. I liked the way Jon has been throwing the last two-and-a-half, three weeks, so I sent him back out.

Muncy doubled to left field on a four-seam fastball against Gray. When Pederson strolled to the plate after two quick outs,

Black motioned to the ‘pen for his rookie left-hander with two outs and a runner on third base.

Musgrave was candid before Saturday’s game about his big spot in Friday’s game.

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“I warmed up the inning before to face Muncy in case he came up. Pederson was the next lefty up once Muncy got on base. I’ve thrown to him a few times in and the season. So, I’d faced him a good bit. I went out and did my job.”

Pederson hit a fly ball to left field that closed out the sixth inning, keeping the score close.

Musgrave’s familiarity with Pederson played to the advantage of the West Virginia native.

“I’ve seen him enough to get a feel for what to throw and executing is the main thing. Pederson is a pretty free swinging guy. So, if pitches look good in the zone and (goes outside the strike zone), he swings a little bit.”

It wasn’t long ago that it would have seemed unlikely for Musgrave to be called upon in such a big spot, particularly because he hadn’t been used as a reliever the duration of the career as a professional.

When he stepped onto the field against the San Diego Padres for his major league debut on April 23, he did so for the first time as a reliever in four-plus seasons in the minors.

“The first couple outings we piggybacked (starting, then relieving) when we first got drafted in Grand Junction. Since then,

I hadn’t relieved in a regular season game. So, this was the first time.”

This appearance was the culmination of years of hard work for the West Virginia native.

“An obvious dream-come-true situation. Very excited for myself, my family and everybody else. Trying to enjoy it.”

Before game one of a pivotal NL West series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Musgrave discussed his process for getting ready for a late-inning match-up like the one against Pederson.

“You kind of see who’s on the bench and you look at the innings you would probably come in and if you come in, who would you face. You look back at the people I’ve thrown against this year and see what worked, what didn’t. How to adjust and stay ready. Pitch to your strengths. If your strength is one thing and it’s also their strength, you play the odds that your strength is going to get their strength out.” 17

One of Musgrave’s strengths is getting warm quickly, an ability many new relievers can struggle with after years of being starting pitchers.

“I’ve always been one of those people that I don’t take a long time to get loose to get warmed up to go pitch. The hurry mentality you have to have in the bullpen wasn’t a really big transition for me. It’s worked out pretty good so far.”

During a ballgame, Musgrave’s attention shifts to the action on the field and the changes made throughout the game. This focus sharpens at key moments.

“Especially when we have lefty starters. (Anderson) and Freeland, they pitch similar as far as velocity and pitches that they throw. Myself and Rusin, when they’re throwing, you pay more attention when lefties are up. I can relate to (lefty pitchers) a little bit more then when Marquez comes out throwing 99-mph.”

Preparation for his role in the bullpen actually came during Spring Training when many young starting pitchers in the minors get to experience appearances out of the bullpen against big leaguers in March.

“You look at how they react to the pitches. They’re getting ready for the season too, so they’re not as sharp as they are in the season and neither are we. You see how they react to the certain pitches that are thrown.”

One of the pitches opposing hitters have been reacting to from Musgrave is his slider.

It’s certainly something that goes away. I left a couple up and the one he hit was a little higher. I kept it off the main part of the barrel. Against lefties, the slider is certainly a confident pitch for me to throw as many times as I need to.”

In the at bat against Pederson last night, Musgrave began the count at 2-0 with sliders that moved out of the strike zone.

He followed up with two more sliders, the final one an 84-mph slider that finished the threat in the sixth inning.

Musgrave has done well in his three outings since returning from the disabled list on July 24th from a hip injury, pitching to a 2.70 in 3.1 innings of work. It’s a small sample-size, but the results have been positive, nevertheless.

As the Rockies continue to look for a consistent left-hander to stabilize their bullpen, Harrison Musgrave will continue to do all he can to be that player. 18

Colorado Rockies: 4 things they can do to improve in August by Kevin Henry - 1 hour ago | RoxPile

The Colorado Rockies wrapped up their pivotal four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field on Sunday afternoon. Ryan McMahon provided plenty of highlights in the series. The feelings were great, but now the rest of a tough August schedule remains.

The road ahead doesn’t get any easier for the Colorado Rockies, who, after an off day, face the defending World

Champion in Houston on Tuesday and Wednesday. From there, the Rockies head to Atlanta for a four- game series against the Braves, who are currently settled into the second National League Wild Card spot.

After another off day, the Rockies come home to face the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals for three-game series before heading back on the road to face the Los Angeles Angels and Padres as August concludes.

So what can the Rockies do improve and have an even better chance of making the postseason? Of course, we have some ideas and some things that we’d like to see change.

Call up Matt Holliday for the Angels series

When the Rockies invade Anaheim to take on the Los Angeles Angels for a two-game series, the calendar will read

August 27. It’s a Monday and September 1 is on Saturday.

So why does that matter? The 38-year-old outfielder will have had plenty of time in Triple-A to get his timing back and can serve as Colorado’s DH for the pair of games against the Angels. You won’t have to worry about playing him in the outfield in those contests and he can serve as a bench bat when the Rockies head to San Diego and National League play.

To call Holliday up on August 27, it’s just a few days before the September 1 roster expansion date when Holliday could well be called up anyway. Why not give him some DH at-bats against the Angels to kick things off?

Yes, Holliday will need to be added to the 40-man roster to make all of this happen and the Rockies will have to make a move for it and the 25-man active roster if he is going to be called up in August. However, if the Rockies could get a right- handed power bat in the lineup and jumpstart an offense that has struggled mightily at times in recent games, wouldn’t it be worth it? We think so.

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Consider swapping David Dahl and Charlie Blackmon in center field

There’s been something about Charlie Blackmon this season and center field that simply haven’t meshed as they have in previous years. Let’s face it: Blackmon’s defense in center field has never been stellar, but there have been some balls hit over Chuck Nazty’s head this season that have made us all wonder if perhaps he is losing a step and can’t cover the vast expanses of Coors Field as he has in years past. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why Blackmon had a -26 DRS heading into Sunday’s game. BaseballSavant.com has him as the eighth-worst outfielder in OAA (Outs Above Average) with at least five opportunities.

How about starting David Dahl in center field and moving Blackmon to left field? You would still keep Blackmon’s bat in the lineup and ensure Dahl’s offense and defense boost Colorado’s chances of winning as well.

Dahl has played two games in center field this season and has held down center field in 292 of his 374 minor-league appearances. At the age of 24, he still has the quickness and defensive intellect to make a difference for the Rockies in center field.

This move would also bump Gerardo Parra out of the lineup and Ian Desmond back to first base the majority of the time.

However, neither of those effects should be seen as a reason to not have the defensive switch made.

There was a time when it was said Charlie Blackmon would never bat anywhere in the Rockies lineup other than leadoff.

That changed this season. The same could happen with the theory that Chuck Nazty will always play center field for the

Rockies.

Move DJ LeMahieu back into the leadoff role

Speaking of Charlie Blackmon in the leadoff role, he has been struggling there in recent games. So what could be done?

How about let’s go back in time.

The season began with DJ LeMaheiu batting leadoff and Blackmon batting second. It’s time to shake things up and go back to this lineup again.

Something needs to snap Blackmon out of his recent funk and this could hopefully be it. Over his last 15 games, heading into Sunday’s series against the Dodgers, Blackmon was hitting just .203/.261/.297. That drops to .167/.242/.167 over his last seven games. No extra-base hits and a struggle to produce in the leadoff spot is one of the reasons why the Colorado offense is struggling at the moment. 20

A solo shot by Blackmon on Sunday was a good sign, but his 22nd homer of the season still was the only hit for him on a

1-for-3 day that included three other plate appearances where the ball never left the infield.

LeMahieu, meanwhile, is hitting just .200 in August. The former batting champion hasn’t been the same since returning from an oblique injury that landed him on the disabled list in late July.

The duo needs to find their bats to set the table for Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story and the heart of the Rockies order.

When the top of the order is producing, the Rockies are hitting on all cylinders.

Give Chad Bettis one more start and then…

We detailed some of the issues that Chad Bettis faced against the Pittsburgh Pirates in this article. It has been part of a disturbing trend for the 29-year-old right-hander.

I know, I know. I get that Bettis is coming off arguably his best start of the season in Sunday’s win over the Dodgers.

Statistically, it was certainly his best start since a May 5 outing against the New York Mets. However, it was an anomaly compared to an 8.54 ERA in June and a 13.75 ERA in two starts spanning 7.2 innings in July and August prior to

Sunday’s outing.

It was also interesting to note that Bettis walked four batters and threw just 47 strikes among his 85 pitches. He did well to dance around the walks … but they were still there.

If he doesn’t do well in his next start, it shows Sunday’s outing was an outlier. If he does do well, great. That’s what the

Rockies want out of their fifth starter.

There certainly are other possibilities to take his spot in the rotation if it comes to that. is scheduled to return from the disabled list soon and could slide right into Bettis’ slot. That is the most likely scenario, but with the 40-man roster expansion coming on September 1 (as we discussed earlier), could Jeff Hoffman get another shot?

Perhaps not. Perhaps Bettis is the best answer for the Rockies in the fifth starter spot. However, with an estimated six starts left in the season, who do you trust more to take those starts? Bettis? Senzatela? Someone else?

That’s the question Bud Black and the Rockies have to figure out. Being a manager who favors veterans, Bettis will likely take his place in the next start. Best case, Bettis keeps what worked for him against the Dodgers going. Worst case, the

Rockies have options heading into September.

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Baseballtown (?), USA By Doug Ottewill - August 13, 2018 | Mile High Sports

Sunday. Denver, Colorado. There’s a roar that suddenly fills that oh-so-thin, mile-high air. A stadium packed to the gills has just witnessed exactly what it had hoped for. The sound doesn’t die down quickly, either. It goes for a while; people want to savor this one. Smiles. Fist bumps. High fives. Traffic leaving is a pain, because, well, it’s Denver, and because everyone waited until the bitter end.

Read the above just about any time of year, or even read it out of context, and 99 percent of anyone who’s ever lived, does live, or will live in the great state of Colorado would conclude that it’s being written about one team and one team only.

The Denver Broncos.

But it wasn’t. That was LoDo, not LoHi. It was August 13. And the victors were the Colorado Rockies baseball club. The excitement was real because, not only did the win come off of a 9th inning, walk-off walk, but it was the second walk-off win in as many games. The Rockies just took three-of-four from the richer-than-Jesus Dodgers, closing the race in the NL

West to a razor thin margin between Arizona (the current leader), the Dodgers (1.0 games back) and Colorado (1.5 games back).

Just three days prior, Wade Davis, the highest profile closer the Rockies have ever employed, was booed off the field. In the first game of a four-game set against the Dodgers, Davis took the mound in the top of the ninth with the game tied at five apiece. He trudged off the mound down 8-3 after giving up two homers and getting hooked. Davis has made a habit of this sort of thing lately, and seemingly everyone at Coors Field knew it (and they weren’t exactly happy about it, either).

On Sunday, when he was given the ball in nearly the same situation – top of the ninth, tie ball game – the crowd at Coors instantly became as tight as the fiddle string used to play John Denver’s “Life on the Farm.” Mothers, grandmothers, children, Rockies fans of all shapes and sizes all knew about Davis. And nobody felt good about seeing him jog in from the outfield.

But when Davis recorded two outs on two pitches, the crowd went from apprehensive to supportive. It was almost as if

Davis went from Enemy No. 1 to the comeback story of the week. All of a sudden, the crowd was on its feet, cheering wildly for that third out. It was big – for Davis and for the standings.

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Then, he walked the next batter.

The tension again grew thick.

But after Joc Pederson grounded out to shortstop, the sense of relief – and perhaps some appreciation for Davis’ ability to fight through his recent struggles – was palpable.

In the bottom of the ninth, when the Dodgers elected to intentionally walk rookie Ryan McMahon, the crowd booed with great displeasure – far more vehemently than two batters before when David Dahl was walked. Baseball fans who’ve paid attention of late know that it was McMahon who blasted a two-run, go-ahead, game-winning homer in the seventh inning of game two of the series on Friday night; they know he hit a walk off homer on Saturday night in game three. On Sunday, it sure felt like a huge percentage of those fans understood the significance of walking McMahon. They also knew the

Dodgers were probably making the right move, but still, they wanted to see the red-hot rookie get one chance to do it again.

Sitting next to me in the heat, my dad said, “You know, we might just be becoming a baseball town.”

As an East Coaster – a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, to be exact – he would know. Sure, we’re not New York, nor are we St.

Louis or Chicago, but a meaningful series with an average attendance of 43,398 says something.

And this wasn’t a “Cubs Series” either – Rockies fans drowned out the Dodgers fans in attendance during the seventh inning rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”. There’s a social media uprising discouraging the wave, for crying out

– we might just be growing up, Denver.

Our town loves a winner; that’s just the way it is when there are roughly 27 other teams, ski mountains, hiking trails, rivers for fly fishing, and some kind of festival taking place every single weekend all vying for our attention. If your team doesn’t win, Denver loses interest – unless of course you’re the Broncos, and then people just get mad at you.

The Rockies went to the playoffs last season for the first time since 2009. And this season they’re still very much alive in the playoff race – and it’s mid-August.

Remember when everyone here used to joke, “Hey Rockies, just get us to the start of preseason football”?

Well, it’s here. And it’s looking pretty bad. 23

But I’m sure this morning, this baseball town will be busily talking about how Chad Kelly should move past Paxton Lynch on the depth chart, and about how Vance Joseph still doesn’t exactly resemble an NFL head coach.

Or maybe we can put the temptation to talk Broncos aside. Maybe preseason football can take a backseat to the Rockies for once – because the local nine are damn sure worth talking about.

Maybe, just maybe, we’re becoming a baseball town.

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