Will Smith hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning and Chris Taylor went deep twice as the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled out a 3-2 victory Sunday against the visiting Colorado Rockies.
Smith’s fourth homer in seven games just cleared the wall in left-center field off Rockies right-hander Carlos Estevez (2-2). It was his 14th of the season.
Phil Bickford (1-1) pitched a scoreless eighth inning to earn the victory, while Joe Kelly earned his first save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Rockies took a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning following Raimel Tapia’s leadoff walk. Tapia stole second base, went to third on Brendan Rodgers’ ground out and scored on Trevor Story’s two-out single.
The Dodgers answered with Taylor’s first home run on Jon Gray’s fourth pitch of the game. It was Taylor’s sixth career home run to lead off a game for the Dodgers and second this season.
The Rockies took a 2-1 lead in the second inning on Elias Diaz’s one-out, first-pitch home run over the wall in left. It was the ninth of the season for Diaz and his second in the three-game series.
Taylor answered for the Dodgers again in the fifth inning with another home run to left field. His 16th of the season also gave him four multi-homer games in his career, two of which have come this season.
Gray gave up two runs on four hits over five innings for the Rockies with three walks and four strikeouts. Dodgers rookie Josiah Gray, in his first career start and second appearance, gave up two runs on three hits over four innings with four walks and six strikeouts.
Rockies right fielder Charlie Blackmon came away unscathed in the sixth inning after running into center fielder Sam Hilliard while making a catch on a Zach McKinstry drive to right-center. Blackmon stayed on the ground for a beat before leaving the field following the final out of the inning.
Before the game, the Dodgers placed right fielder Mookie Betts in the 10-day injured list with right hip inflammation, while center fielder Cody Bellinger did not start for a second consecutive game with a hamstring issue. Bellinger did ground out as a pinch hitter in the seventh.
–Field Level Media