A blueprint for defeat: Just four-plus innings from starting pitcher Chi Chi Gonzalez, a really bad outing from middle reliever Chad Bettis and the powerful Dodgers in the visiting dugout on a Sunday afternoon at Coors Field.
Final score: Dodgers 10, Rockies 5 in a nine-inning game that took 4 hours, 1 minute to complete.
Colorado’s hopes of a series win against the National League West’s runaway leaders vanished into a less-than-satisfying 2-2 split. With the season more than half over, the Dodgers lead the Rockies by 12 games.
Colorado’s four-run fifth inning, featuring a two-run homer by freshly minted all-star David Dahl, was quickly erased by a six-run Dodgers sixth in which they sent 11 men to the plate, scoring six runs on five hits off Bettis.