Chris Capuano, Dodgers come up short in Coors finale

The Dodgers fell short in their sweep attempt at Coors Field, dropping the finale to the Rockies 9-5 on Thursday night in Denver.

Chris Capuano was shaky for the second straight start. He allowed four runs in the third inning, then couldn't get out of the fifth inning. It was the second time in a row Capuano allowed more runs than innings pitched, and the fifth time he has done so in 10 starts this season.

The rest of the pitching staff has had just 10 starts with more runs allowed than innings in 74 games: three each by Matt Magill and Josh Beckett, two each by Ted Lilly and Zack Greinke.

Since the All-Star break in 2012 Capuano has pitched in 27 games, including 25 starts. During that span he is 5-14 with a 4.92 ERA and has averaged 5.45 innings per start. Capuano has lasted six innings in just three of his last 14 starts, dating back to 2012.

With the Dodgers in the market for a starting pitcher, and manager Don Mattingly's willingness earlier in the season in using Capuano in relief, the odd man out in the starting rotation should be Chris Capuano before Stephen Fife, even though the latter has options.

When Capuano was pulled in the fifth, manager Don Mattingly turned to Brandon League with a runner on base and a 5-2 deficit. League retired just one of his four batters faced and by the end of the inning the Rockies held an 8-2 advantage.

Batters are hitting .322/.378/.471 against League this season and it's becoming harder and harder to find spots in games he can pitch. It might be time for him to take the Marmol route, or at least hit the disabled list so he can fix whatever is wrong without costing the Dodgers more runs.

Notes

• The best piece of news from Thursday's contest was Matt Kemp, who homered for the second straight game and went 2-for-5.
• Adrian Gonzalez homered in the ninth, giving him three straight games with a home run. He also went 4-for-5 with a double and hit .467 (7-for-15) during the three-game series at Coors Field.
• Hanley Ramirez singled in the ninth inning to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, during which time he has hit .483 (28-for-58).
• Yasiel Puig went 1-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to eight games. But he was hitless in his first three at-bats, extending his hitless streak to a career-long five at-bats before his single in the sixth inning.
• The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Dodgers within the division. The Dodgers are now 16-24 against the National League West this season. Their final 10 games heading into the All-Star break are all against NL West teams.

Up next

The road show moves to San Francisco, with Hyun-jin Ryu starting the opener Friday night against the Giants at AT&T Park. The Giants were rained out on Thursday and pushed their starters back a day, so Matt Cain starts the opener for San Francisco.

Thursday particulars

Home runs: Matt Kemp (4), Adrian Gonzalez (13); Michael Cuddyer (15)

WP - Jhoulys Chacin (8-3): 5⅔ IP, 9 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts

LP - Chris Capuano (2-6): 4⅓ IP, 7 hits, 6 runs (5 earned), 1 walk, 3 strikeouts