Despite allowing only one hit in three innings of work, Landon Knack was unable to keep the Rockies off the board in what ultimately became a 6-4 loss to the Rockies. More important than the result, Knack struggled with an aspect of a starter ’game he ought to navigate well in order to have the desired impact. The young right-hander didn’t make the most out of allowing only one hit in three innings of work, done in by the Rockies small-ball game—one that works particularly well with a speedster like
Jake McCarthy at the top of the batting order.
In the first inning, a walk was all it took for Colorado to get on the board, with McCarthy stealing back-to-back bases in order to score on a simple sacrifice fly. A couple of frames later, a ground rule double and a pair of sac-flies got Colorado on the board once again. Knack, who had a 1.394 WHIP last season, needs to do a better job of stranding runners and controlling the running game if he is to compete at even a decent level, much less a high one.
Sadly, Knack, who has multiple youngsters ahead of him in the pecking order for innings on this staff, wasn’t even the most disappointing Dodger pitcher of the evening, a distinction that belonged to Blake Treinen. Severely underwhelming in 2025, particularly in the postseason, Treinen came into this season on the final year of his deal, looking to bounce back to the form that made him one of the more dependable relievers of this team not so long ago. After a couple of scoreless outings in spring, the veteran got roughed up by the Rockies, who hung a four-spot on him in the sixth without the need of a single extra-base hit. On the flip side, there wasn’t a lot of hard contact to go around, so for now, we chalk it up to an isolated, unfortunate incident, even if the downward trend was cause for concern well before spring got underway.
For a game with 10 runs scored, neither offense looked particularly potent, with them combining for only three extra-base hits in the whole game—responsible for the Dodgers only one, Andy Pages continued his terrific showing this spring, now 7 for 20 in eight games. The first five hitters in the batting order all got three at bats with each of Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández, and Max Muncy going 1 for 3. Both in the eighth and ninth innings, the Dodgers had the tying run in scoring position, but failed to capitalize once all the starters had left the game.
Up next, the Dodgers will go to Mesa to face the Athletics with a couple of left-handers taking the ball—Justin Wrobleski for Los Angeles and Jacob López for the A’s.
