The Rockies scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh, leading to a 9-7 win over the Dodgers Thursday night at Coors Field in the first game of a four-game set. Colorado sent 11 men to the plate in the fateful bottom of the seventh inning, which took a whopping 38 minutes to complete. Tonight was the second loss in 11 games this season when the Dodgers had scored seven runs.
Clayton Kershaw for the second straight start allowed no runs through five innings, but allowed runs in both the sixth and seventh innings. He faced three batters in the seventh, but didn't retire a batter, then Scott Elbert and Mike MacDougal combined to get one out from the six combined batters they faced. The pitching implosion marred what was a memorable night for Matt Kemp.
Kemp homered in the fourth inning, his fifth home run in his last five games, and added a two-run triple and a double later on. Kemp had a chance to become the 10th Dodger ever to hit for the cycle, and just the third in Los Angeles, needing only a single, but he struck out in the ninth inning. Kemp and Andre Ethier each had three hits on the night.
The Dodgers got more offense from rookie Dee Gordon and, surprisingly, from Kershaw. The number nine and leadoff batters hit back-to-back singles in both the fifth and seventh innings, igniting a pair of three-run rallies. Chad Billingsley faces Jhoulys Chacin in the second game of the series on Friday night.
For more news and information on the Dodgers, or on tonight's game, be sure to read the SB Nation blog True Blue LA.