Tyler Chatwood In 'Complete Control' As Rockies Get 2nd One-Hitter Club History
LOS ANGELES (The Sports Xchange) - Tyler Chatwood effectively silenced the Los Angeles Dodgers' bats, pitching the Colorado Rockies to a 6-1 win Monday at Dodger Stadium.
Chatwood, who grew up in the Redlands, a suburb of Los Angeles in the Inland Empire region, and was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in 2008, limited the Dodgers to one run on one hit in eight innings. He walked four and struck out five.
Chatwood (7-4) earned his fifth consecutive road win, and he remains undefeated away from Coors Field.
"His command wasn't, probably, pinpoint early on, but he was around the zone and good enough to get swings," Rockies manager Walk Weiss said. "He was in complete control."
Chatwood was one inning shy of his second career complete game and his first since undergoing his second Tommy John surgery, but the Rockies went to the bullpen in the ninth. Gonzalez Germen retired the side in order to complete the second one-hitter in Colorado club history.
With Chatwood's pitch count at 100 after the eighth inning, Weiss stayed conservative by using a reliever in the ninth. Though Chatwood lobbied for another inning, he understood that Weiss was thinking long term and not willing to risk another injury.
All wasn't lost for Chatwood either: With several friends from Redlands East Valley High School and family members in attendance, he was able to visit with them in the ninth inning.
"I understand where they're coming from with me coming off of two Tommy Johns. You have to be careful, and the biggest thing is that we won the game and started the series off right," Chatwood said. "I left quite a bit of tickets today. ... After I got taken out, I got to sit up there a little bit and got to say hi to some people, so it was pretty cool."
Howie Kendrick had the lone hit against Chatwood, a second-inning single that led to Los Angeles' run.
Colorado rookie Trevor Story broke the game open with a three-run home run in the sixth inning, immediately after Carlos Gonzalez was intentionally walked. Despite his struggles as of late, Story still made it a little harder for the Dodgers' Corey Seager to catch up to him in the rookie home run race, belting his 16th of the season. Seager has 14.
"That was one of my best bullets," Story said. "You can't get too overwhelmed or too emotional, but when you see (someone intentionally walked) it gives you a little extra motivation."
Mike Bolsinger (1-3) took his second consecutive loss. In 5 1/3 innings, Bolsinger allowed six runs on seven hits, walked two and struck out five.
Bolsinger struggled to get through the order the third time around, which has been a problem for him all season.
"I think Mike has been around the league a couple times now, and there's no secret to how he wants to attack and how he wants to pitch and how important it is for him to use his breaking ball," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said. "Mike's breaking ball is so good that when he does execute it, it's a swing-and-miss pitch. It's a matter of execution."
With the Rockies up 2-1 going into the sixth, Bolsinger walked leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon, who advanced on the sacrifice bunt by DJ LeMahieu. Nolan Arenado singled to center field and advanced to second on the throw as Blackmon scored.
Bolsinger put Gonzalez on base to get to Story, who sent a 1-0 curveball deep into the stands in center to give the Rockies a 6-1 lead. Adam Liberatore then relieved Bolsinger.
"I don't think it's fatigue," Bolsinger said. "I'm working ahead of hitters, I get ahead and I give up a hit to Arenado, and that ball was six to seven inches off the plate. And once I just start rolling, I keep going, and I've got to find a way to stop stuff like that."
The Rockies got on the board first when Gerardo Parra hit a solo home run off Bolsinger in the second inning, his fifth of the season.
The Dodgers tied it in the bottom of the second when Adrian Gonzalez scored on a forceout. The game remained tied until the top of the fifth, when Nick Hundley singled home Mark Reynolds to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead.
NOTES: The Dodgers signed RHP Nick Tepesch to a minor league deal. Tepesch opted out of his contract with the Texas Rangers on Saturday. Hours after the signing, he was sent to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make a start against his former team, Triple-A Round Rock. Tepesch owns a 4.56 ERA in 219 major league innings, all with Texas. ... Los Angeles RHP Brandon McCarthy (Tommy John surgery) pitched in a simulated game at Dodger Stadium on Monday. He will begin a rehab assignment within the next week. ... Dodgers 3B Justin Turner moved up to the leadoff spot in order to keep OF Trayce Thomspon in the No. 3 spot. ... Los Angeles OF Yasiel Puig is on the disabled list with a hamstring strain, but he made an appearance at Dodger Stadium on Monday to catch the ceremonial first pitch thrown by Jared Goff, who was drafted first overall by the Los Angeles Rams last month. ... Rockies RHP Miguel Castro was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque in order to make room for LHP Boone Logan. Logan, who ended a DL stint for shoulder inflammation, rejoined the bullpen as a left-handed specialist.
