Yoshinobu Yamamoto went six strong innings to rebound from his first loss in over two months and the Los Angeles Dodgers went on to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Colorado Rockies on Saturday.
Jason Heyward and Will Smith each had an RBI double as the Dodgers won one day after the Rockies took the opener of the three-game series.
The Rockies’ Ezequiel Tovar had three hits for the second consecutive game, with Colorado still in line for a possible third consecutive series victory after getting the best of the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Guardians during its most recent homestand.
After a standout May in which he posted a 1.71 ERA in five starts, Colorado right-hander Cal Quantrill gave up four runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. It was just the second time Quantrill (4-4) has failed to deliver five innings in a start this season.
The Rockies took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Brendan Rodgers doubled, went to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly from Brenton Doyle.
The Dodgers moved in front, 2-1, in the bottom of the second with plenty of help from the Rockies’ defense. Teoscar Hernandez singled and scored on a Gavin Lux groundout when Colorado first baseman Elehuris Montero and left fielder Sean Bouchard both made errors on the play.
Heyward put the Dodgers in the lead for good with a double to right-center that brought home Andy Pages for the 2-1 advantage.
The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani walked in the third inning and stole his 100th career base, but Quantrill immediately picked him off at second in what was ruled a caught stealing.
Los Angeles increased its lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning on an RBI single from Enrique Hernandez and added another run in the fifth on a Freddie Freeman triple followed by a Smith double.
Yamamoto (6-2) gave up one run on seven hits to go along with a walk and seven strikeouts. The start came after he gave up four runs last weekend at Cincinnati in his first loss since his major league debut in March.
Dodgers right-hander Evan Phillips pitched the ninth inning for his ninth save and first since returning from a hamstring strain on Friday.
–Field Level Media