DENVER — What do you know? The once-stampeding Dodgers have been caged by the Colorado Rockies.
In a 9-6 loss Sunday at Coors Field, the two-time defending World Series champions lost their second consecutive game to their plucky hosts. The Dodgers again couldn’t hold a lead or keep up offensively at the hitter-friendly park, though they put some pressure on in the ninth inning.
After Shohei Ohtani led off the ninth with a ground-rule double, the Dodgers scored twice to cut the lead to three runs. They had runners on second and third and Ryan Ward at the plate with two out in his first game in the majors. But right fielder Troy Johnston robbed Ward of his chance to chip away at the deficit further, diving to catch his line drive to end the game.
Before that, the Rockies chased starter Roki Sasaki from the game in the fifth inning and then ruffled the Dodgers’ relievers. That included closer Edwin Díaz, who came on in the eighth inning to pitch for the first time in nine days and promptly gave up three singles, a walk and two runs.
He and Blake Treinen combined to face eight batters without getting an out.
Now, after arriving in Denver without having lost a game to a National League opponent, the Dodgers (15-6) are in danger of losing their four-game series against an NL club that is 9-13 and hasn’t made the postseason since 2018.
It’s well below the bar the Dodgers have set, and it added a bitter note to Ward’s otherwise sweet big league debut.
Ward punched a big league clock for the first time wearing No. 67 and cranked his first big league hit off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen in the fourth inning.
Ward lined a changeup to right field for a single that scored Andy Pages, made it 3-0 and got the 20-some members of Ward’s party up, jumping in place, hugging and high-fiving.
He also singled in the sixth, sending Antonio Senzatela’s 96-mph sinker into center field. That advanced Alex Call, who scored to make it 4-3 on Alex Freeland‘s second RBI single of the game.
In his first at-bat, Ward flew out to lead off the third inning, when the Dodgers gave Sasaki a 2-0 lead to work with. Freeland drove in Hyeseong Kim, and Ohtani doubled in Freeland while extending his career-best on-base streak to 51 games, moving past Willie Keeler into third place in Dodgers history.
But to start the fifth, Sasaki fell behind to Kyle Karros, who hit a 96-mph fastball 448 feet for his first home run this season, cutting the Dodgers’ lead to 3-2. The Rockies tied it two batters later on Edouard Julien’s double.
After that, Sasaki lasted only three more batters, including walking Tyler Freeman to put runners on first and second with two out before Alex Vesia came in and got TJ Rumfield to line out to second to preserve the tie.
Sasaki went 4-2/3 innings, threw 78 pitches and gave up three runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking two. His ERA after his fourth start: 6.11, worst in the six-man rotation.
The Dodgers fell behind 6-5 in the seventh when Treinen — who was cleared Friday after he was struck in the head by a batted ball during batting practice — gave up four consecutive hits, including a two-run home run by Mickey Moniak.
After Diaz’s disastrous eighth, the Dodgers trailed 9-4 going into their final at-bat.
Still, the result will be a minor detail when Ward tells the story about getting the call after first baseman Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list, the opportunity of a lifetime.
Just like Miguel Rojas, the Dodgers’ veteran infielder who has a vivid recollection of his major league debut at Coors on June 6, 2014: He remembers making an error at shortstop. That the whole thing was wildly nerve-racking. And wonderful.
“You feel really good about being in the big leagues and getting your first shot of accomplishing your dream, what you’ve been working for your whole life,” Rojas said, standing in the same visitors clubhouse he entered before making his debut, trying not to be starstruck when he spotted new teammates Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Clayton Kershaw getting ready to play.
“But then you have to deal with the emotions of being on the big league roster for the side of the Los Angeles Dodgers. That’s what I remember the most,” he said, “the mixed feeling of emotions.”
So the Dodgers’ assignment, Rojas said, was to make Ward “feel as comfortable as he can be.”
Then Rojas headed out to take grounders and give pointers at first base alongside Ward, who got the start there instead of his pal Dalton Rushing. The hot-hitting backup catcher might have played first if manager Dave Roberts hadn’t decided Ward deserved the opportunity — with Rushing’s enthusiastic blessing.
The Dodgers’ No. 19 prospect and reigning Pacific Coast League MVP has spent the last seven years in the minors. Last season, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 122 runs with a .937 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for triple-A Oklahoma City, and he has a 1.020 OPS and four homers this year.
Ward made it a point to improve his chase rate, draw more walks and get on base more frequently, everything the Dodgers asked of him. He also passed the broadest patience test.
“The plate discipline, being a better hitter … he’s done all that,” Roberts said. “He’s improved his defense. But honestly, for me, just not to let his lack of opportunity in the big leagues deter him. That’s easy when you get frustrated and let it affect performance, and he hasn’t done that.”
If anything, Ward said, the waiting made him better.
“I used it to keep going. ‘OK, if I’m not there yet, what do I have to do to get there?’” he said. “‘What part of my game do I need to work on to keep getting better?’
“I used it as fire to keep working.”
That will be the Dodgers’ assignment too.
In the finale of the four-game series Monday, the Dodgers are expected to start left-hander Justin Wrobleski (2-0, 2.12) against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1, 5.63).
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