LOS ANGELES ― Sometimes a little patience goes a long way.
The Dodgers have walked more than any National League team this season. In Friday’s loss to the Colorado Rockies, however, they failed to draw a walk for only the fifth time this season.
Saturday they drew eight ― including two during an eighth-inning rally that fueled their 5-2 victory before an announced crowd of 42,479 at Dodger Stadium.
After back-to-back walks loaded the bases, Will Smith’s two-run single off Daniel Bard broke a 2-2 tie. AJ Pollock tacked on an insurance run with an RBI single. Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth inning to preserve the win and record his 29th save of the season.
Trea Turner went 3 for 3 and Chris Taylor hit his 19th home run this year for the Dodgers (82-48), who remain 2 ½ games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants in the National League West.
Left-hander David Price pitched 3 ⅔ innings in relief of opener Corey Knebel, allowing two runs. Blake Treinen (4-5) was credited with the victory after pitching a scoreless eighth inning.
Max Muncy returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Wednesday, when he went 0-for-7 in a marathon 16-inning victory in San Diego. Muncy, apparently recovered from a bad back, reached base three times in four plate appearances.
Stranded at the plate when Turner was picked off first base to end the seventh inning, Muncy began the eighth with a line-drive single to the opposite field. The next batter, Mookie Betts, drew a walk. Bard then walked Justin Turner to load the bases.
Smith got ahead in the count 3-and-1 before punching a single into left field, the game’s decisive hit. The catcher also drew two walks in the game.
One day after the Dodgers and Rockies combined to score all six runs via home runs, Colorado got on the board the old-fashioned way.
Taylor Motter led off the third inning with a single, advanced to second base on a walk, took third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly.
Down 1-0 in the bottom of the third, Trea Turner singled and Muncy drew a walk against Rockies starter Jon Gray. With Betts at bat, Gray threw a pitch and winced. The pitcher was promptly visited by an athletic trainer and Manager Bud Black.
After a brief conversation, Gray left the mound and was replaced with Tyler Kinney. The Rockies did not announce the reason for Gray’s departure.
In any event, the remainder of the game belonged to the Rockies’ bullpen, whose park-adjusted earned-run average ranked 10th among the 15 National League teams through Friday.
Kinley walked Betts, loading the bases. Justin Turner grounded into a double play, but Trea Turner scampered in from third base with the Dodgers’ first run.
The teams traded runs again in the fourth inning. Ryan McMahon’s RBI groundout momentarily gave Colorado a 2-1 lead. Taylor’s sky-high home run into the left field bleachers evened the score at 2.
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