Chacin Outduels Kershaw, Dodgers Shutout For Third Time Ever In Denver

Jhoulys Chacin outpitched Clayton Kershaw tonight at Coors Field, giving the Rockies a 3-0 win over the Dodgers. Chacin pitched seven scoreless innings, running his lifetime ERA against the Dodgers to 2.42 in seven starts, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out four. Tonight was just the third time ever that the Dodgers have been shutout in Denver, in 286 games dating back to 1993.

Kershaw pitched reasonably well. It's hard to argue with eight strikeouts and no unintentional walks in six innings, but Kershaw gave up single runs in three straight innings, thanks to three fastballs Kershaw wishes he had back, all with two outs. In the fourth inning, Kershaw left a 2-2 fastball over the middle of the plate, and Troy Tulowitzki crushed it over the fence in center for a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, Kershaw grooved a 3-1 fastball to catcher Chris Iannetta, who deposited it into the left field stands. Then, in the sixth, Kershaw decided to walk Tulowitzki with Dexter Fowler on third base, but Jose Lopez lined a fastball into center for an RBI single, and the third Colorado run.

Rockies' pitchers retired the final 12 Dodgers to close out the win.

Notes

• Rafael Furcal grounded out to second baseman Lopez in all four plate appearances tonight
• The defensive play of the night (if it wasn't Carlos Gonzalez covering the field like a tarp and making a catch of a slicing ball off the bat of Tony Gwynn Jr. look routine, in the first inning) was Gwynn, who ranged back to the wall in left field to quickly field a hard-hit ball off the wall by Todd Helton to open the fifth inning. Gwynn speared the ball with his bare hand and threw to second base to get Helton, who hadn't yet slid into the television screen by the time the ball reached Jamey Carroll at second base.
• Kershaw has 17 strikeouts and one unintentional walk in 13 innings this season.
• Both Dodger relief pitchers tonight, Mike MacDougal and Blake Hawksworth, each bucked a recent trend and retired the first man they faced.
  
• Casey Blake is expected to be activated from the disabled list before tomorrow's game, and in fact the Dodgers optioned Ivan DeJesus to Triple A Albuquerque after tonight's game, paving the way for Blake.
  
• Chad Billingsley faces Jason Hammel tomorrow at 12:10 p.m. on getaway day.

WP - Jhoulys Chacin (1-0): 7 IP, 5 hits, 2 walks (1 intentional), 5 strikeouts

LP - Clayton Kershaw (1-1): 6 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs, 1 intentional walk, 8 strikeouts

Sv - Huston Street (2): 1 IP, 1 strikeout

Box Score