by Mark Langill
The Colorado calm before the San Diego storm didn’t carry over to the top of the Dodgers’ lineup on Thursday afternoon at Coors Field.
The Dodgers salvaged a split in the four-game series with a 9–5 victory before they open their final regular-season showdown with the Padres on Friday at Petco Park.
Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman each had two hits at the top of the order, but the Dodgers also received key contributions from others.
Rookie third baseman Alex Freeland went 3-for-5 with a double and triple.
Andy Pages hit his first road home run in nearly four months.
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When it looked like the Dodgers might waste Freeland’s leadoff triple in the third inning, Alex Call delivered a two-out RBI single to give the Dodgers a 5–1 lead.
“Today was good because the offense came to life,” said manager Dave Roberts, whose team was 5-for-13 with runners in scoring position. “We got some big hits and some really good at-bats.”
After sweeping the Padres last week in Los Angeles, the Dodgers bring a one-game lead into San Diego. The Dodger starting pitchers will be Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
“Getting this win today gives us a little momentum for San Diego,” Freeland said. “We can bring that energy that we brought today into the weekend.”
Roberts didn’t dwell on the two losses in this series against last-place Colorado. He’s looking forward to the atmosphere in San Diego.
“I wish we would’ve won all four games, but it didn’t happen,” Roberts said. “And you know, they beat us pretty handily in two games, and that’s just the way baseball is.
“Regardless of the standings, we have to beat (the Padres). We’ve played well against them this season. They’re going to give us everything they have this weekend, and we’ve got to be ready for it.”
Clayton Kershaw (8–2), who allowed three runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings on Thursday, enjoyed a 7–1 lead by the fourth inning. A two-out walk in the sixth inning led to his departure, but Kershaw was happy to leave Colorado with the split.
“It’s a great win today,” Kershaw said. “You can’t take anything for granted in Colorado. The bullpen came in and shut everybody down. Offensively, we got a lot of early runs, which is awesome. We made some great plays defensively.”
The Dodgers didn’t waste any time in the first inning against Colorado starter Chase Dollander (2–10), who was tagged for seven runs on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings.
After Betts’ leadoff walk, Freeman belted a 451-foot home run to center field.
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Dodgers rock Colorado on the way to San Diego was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.