Juan Nicasio Shaky In Colorado Rockies Loss To The Los Angeles Dodgers

April 26, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario (20) reaches second after hitting a double in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Colorado Rockies pitcher Juan Nicasio has been up and down throughout his big league career, and tonight was another one of those down nights at Dodger Stadium.

The Colorado Rockies would get on the board first in the top half of the third inning after DJ LeMahieu started it with a single to right-center. After DJ reached second, pitcher Juan Nicasio would sacrifice him over to third with one out. Brandon Barnes did an excellent job driving the ball to right-center, plating LeMahieu for the early 1-0 lead.

The Dodgers would answer back in the bottom half of the third inning as Dee Gordon led off with a triple to right-center. Nicasio would battle control issues as he hit Yasiel Puig with a 2-2 fastball, putting runners on the corners with no outs. Hanley Ramirez would have an RBI ground out to short, scoring Gordon as Puig hustled from first to third on the play. Adrian Gonzalez would follow that up with a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Puig, giving the Dodgers the 2-1 lead.

The wheels started to come off in the fifth inning for Nicasio as he would give up an opposite field home run to Adrian Gonzalez giving the Dodgers a 5-2 lead. Rockies skipper Walt Weiss would decide to pull the plug on Nicasio as he only made it through 4 1/3 innings, giving up eight hits, five runs, five earned, two walks, and four strikeouts. Tommy Kahnle would come into the ballgame and clean up his mess, pitching 1 2/3 innings, giving up just one hit while striking out two Dodgers.

Despite the Rockies losing, Chris Martin would make his debut with the ballclub after being called up this past week. He would work one scoreless inning, giving up just one hit and walking one.

Matt Belisle continues to struggle in every way possible for the Rockies. In his lone inning of work, he would give up two hits; including a ground-rule double to Yasiel Puig who plated Carl Crawford on the play.

The Rockies would enter the ninth inning down 6-2 to the Dodgers with Brian Wilson looking to come on and shut them down. He would struggle, walking Charlie Blackmon and Justin morneau back-to-back giving his skipper no choice but to take him out. Kenley Jensen would come on and give up one run that was credited to Wilson as the Rockies had the bases loaded down to their last hope in Brandon Barnes. He would get Barnes to strike out swinging to end the game, earning the save as the Dodgers won 6-3.

Notable Rockies Hitters:

• Brandon Barnes: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, BB.
• Nolan Arenado: 1-for-2 (15-game hitting streak)
• Justin Morneau: 1-for-3, RBI.

Rockies Pitching:

• Juan Nicasio (2-1, L): 4.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO.
• Tommy Kahnle: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 SO.
• Chris Martin: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB.
• Matt Belisle: 1.o IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO.

The Colorado Rockies (13-12) will take on the Dodgers tomorrow afternoon looking for a chance to win the series. Jorge De La Rosa takes the mound for the Rox, opposed by Dodgers lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu. First-pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PM ET, 2:10 PM MT.