Austin Barnes hit a second-inning home run and the beleaguered Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen delivered 3 2/3 hitless innings in a 1-0 victory over the visiting Colorado Rockies on Saturday.
Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen recorded the final three outs for his 22nd save after blowing his last three save opportunities. That three-appearance downturn started with a blown save on July 18 at Colorado.
Los Angeles right-hander Tony Gonsolin (2-1) went 5 1/3 scoreless innings to match his longest outing of the season as the Dodgers won after dropping five of their previous six games.
Left-hander Kyle Freeland gave up just one run over seven innings for the Rockies, who scored six runs after the seventh inning to defeat the Dodgers 9-6 in 10 innings on Friday. However, Colorado could not overcome an early one-run deficit Saturday.
The Rockies, who saw their three-game road winning streak come to an end, had defeated the Dodgers at home on July 18 and again Friday, but they are just 3-9 against Los Angeles this season.
Barnes, who was making just his second start of the week, hit a home run to left field on a 1-2 pitch leading off the second. It was his fourth home run of the season and first since June 22.
Barnes, who added a seventh-inning single, had two of the Dodgers’ five hits.
Gonsolin gave up just two hits and two walks while matching a season best with seven strikeouts. Relievers Alex Vesia, Joe Kelly, Blake Treinen and Jansen combined to walk one and strike out three the rest of the way.
Freeland (1-5) yielded one run on five hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
The Dodgers did not have right fielder Mookie Betts (hip) in the starting lineup for the seventh consecutive game, while Max Muncy (paternity leave) is out for the weekend series. Cody Bellinger (hamstring) did not play after leaving Friday’s game early.
–Field Level Media