Colorado Rockies Go Back To Black, Defeat The Los Angeles Dodgers In Extra Innings

Apr 25, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies center fielder Brandon Barnes (1) high fives Colorado Rockies left fielder Carlos Gonzalez (5) the go ahead run in the eleventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jordan Lyles continues to impress his new ball club. Wearing the old black vest jerseys, Lyles provided the Rox with a solid chance to win, going seven strong innings.

Lyles would make one mistake and that was in the first inning to Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig. He would elevate a shoulder-high fastball on the first pitch as Puig stayed back and drove it over the fence in right-center to give Los Angeles the 1-0 lead. The Rockies would respond in the top half of the second inning as shortstop Troy Tulowitzki turned on a Josh Beckett fastball, sending it into the stands in left field. A couple of batters later, Corey Dickerson would hit a solo shot of his own to the opposite field, giving the Rockies the 2-1 lead.

In the bottom half of the third inning, Dee Gordon would hit a shot to the right side of the infield that second baseman DJ LeMahieu couldn’t come up with. Gordon kept hustling all the way through as the ball got away from DJ, legging out an infield double. Yasiel Puig would make them pay for the blunder, slapping a single to left field to score Gordon, tying the game up at two apiece.

As noted above, Jordan Lyles did a good job keeping the Dodgers hitters off-balance. He would get them to ground out 12 times, opposed to 5 fly-ball outs. Lyles final line would be seven innings pitched, six hits, two runs, two earned, one walk, four strikeouts while giving up one home run. His ERA would drop to 2.93 on the season as he came up with the no-decision.

Colorado’s bullpen from the moment Lyles went out was solid. Adam Ottavino, Boone Logan, and Rex Brothers would combine for three innings pitching, giving up no hits, two walks as they struck out three batters.

The Colorado Rockies bats awoke in the top half of the eleventh inning as Brandon Barnes started it off with a pinch-hit double to right-center. After a solid at-bat, Charlie Blackmon would collect an RBI single up the middle, plating Barnes for the 3-2 Rockies lead. After Blackmon stole second base, Nolan Arenado would extend his hitting streak to fifteen games, singling to left field to move Blackmon to third. After a Carlos Gonzalez fielders choice plating Blackmon, Troy Tulowitzki walked loading the bases for Justin Morneau. Morneau would single to left, scoring Arenado to put the Rockies up 5-2 heading into the bottom half of the eleventh.

LaTroy Hawkins would come on to try to seal the deal for Colorado but he ran into a little speed bump. Hanley Ramirez would lead off the inning with a double, bringing up Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez would hit a no-doubt home run to right-center, bringing the Rockies lead to within one. Hawkins would settle down after that, getting three consecutive fly-outs to end the game, giving the Rockies a 5-4 win in 11 innings.

The Colorado Rockies (13-11) take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in game two of a three game set tomorrow night. Rockies’ Juan Nicasio will take the hill against Dodgers’ LHP Paul Maholm. First-pitch is scheduled for 9:10 PM ET, 7:10 PM MT.