Sometimes it is as simple as one defensive mishap to make the difference between winning and losing, and that’s what we saw in this 4-3 defeat against the Rockies, the first versus Colorado this season. With the game tied at three in the bottom of the ninth, Teoscar Hernández had the chance to catch a routine short fly ball in right field, but he couldn’t run down the batted ball with a .060 xBA. Ezequiel Tovar reached second base on what was ruled a double and came around to score the winning run shortly
thereafter on a single from Warming Bernabel.
Hernández’s misplay in right was the determining factor in this defeat, but it’s not as if the Dodgers didn’t have a number of opportunities to put the game to bed earlier and avoid such a close affair that late.
Facing a pitcher in Kyle Freeland, who was limited by blister issues that would eventually take him out of the game in the top of the fifth, and with multiple runners reaching base to start the first two innings, Los Angeles had quite a promising outlook. Yet, Freeland was able to battle through it all to keep Colorado in the game and force Yoshinobu Yamamoto to pitch with little to no margin for error, something that, to his credit, the Dodgers starter was able to accomplish by keeping the ball on the ground. Relying heavily on a curveball that generated nine of his 12 whiffs, Yamamoto earned 12 of his 13 outs on balls in play on the ground.
Yamamoto was this close to leaving the game in line for the win, but the one Rockie who has really given him fits couldn’t leave this game without punishing him. Ezequiel Tovar, who would go on to score the winning run, also hit a game-tying homer to make it 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning, his seventh hit in 10 career at-bats against Yamamoto, three of them for extra bases.
That solo shot by Tovar nearly proved to be the spark for the Rockies to chase Yamamoto out of the game, with two of the next three hitters reaching base safely; Yamamoto had enough left in the tank for the final out of the seventh, needing to go over 100 pitches but keeping the score at 3-3 and wrapping up his sixth outing of at least 7+ IP. Only five other pitchers in the National League have had more of these starts in 2025. In the early parts of a stretch of 13 consecutive games without an off day, not to mention the looming threat of long games at Coors Field, that type of length from Yamamoto is invaluable.
It’s probably a tad early for this, but Yamamoto’s performance threatens to put him in the rare group of starters unfazed by Coors Field. The Dodgers’ starting pitcher now has 17 innings at Coors with five earned runs allowed, striking out 18.
The Dodgers’ bullpen did a fine job after Yamamoto, but between Hernández’s misplay and the offense finishing the night 2 for 11 with RISP, they had quite the mountain to climb to stave off defeat by themselves.
Game particulars
- Home run: Ezequiel Tovar (7)
- WP —Vicor Vodnik (4-3): 1 IP, 1 strikeout
- LP — Justin Wrobleski (4-5): 0.1 IP, 2 hits, 1 run
Up next
Looking to bounce back quickly from this disappointing loss, the Dodgers will send Emmet Sheehan out there to face Austin Gomber, the once-upon-a-time key return piece in the Nolan Arenado trade. Same start time on Tuesday at 5:40 p.m. (PT)
