Dodgers beat the hail out of the Rockies

The Dodgers scored a season-high in runs in a 14-3 rout of the Rockies, and they did it all with a single long-ball, relying instead on a plethora for virtually everyone in the batting order to back up a strong five innings from Emmett Sheehan, earning his second win in the majors.

The start of the game was delayed by 110 minutes by hail and rain, but it was worth the wait for the Dodgers, who have now won three series in a row.

In this series finale, looking to secure a victory in the rubber match, with a rookie making his Coors debut for the second straight night, the Dodgers' offense left nothing to chance. Led by J.D. Martinez’ four RBI, the offense totaled 18 hits, four by the starting designated hitter for the National League in the All-Star Game.

Most hitters are glad to play in Coors, but Martinez takes it to a whole new level.

Martinez drove in his first run with a routine fly ball to center. However, Randall Grichuk at no point saw the ball, leaving it to fall in front of him, as he held his hands in the air signaling he knew not where it was.

The Dodgers drove up Chase Anderson’s pitch count, and in the third inning, the same combination was responsible for the scoring, with once again Martinez driving in Mookie Betts, who had doubled his way on, with his second RBI knock of the game.

The following inning was when the floodgates opened, as the Dodgers put up six runs to burst this one wide open and chase Anderson off the mound. It all began with a double at 107.7 MPH from Jason Heyward, and then back-to-back walks to Miguel Vargas and James Outman. As a couple of struggling rookies displayed encouraging maturity to not try to be the hero, and instead set up the big inning.

With the top of the lineup up, Betts and Freddie Freeman each drove in one with a sac-fly and single, followed by a two-run double from Max Muncy to snap an 0-for-22 skid.

Martinez followed with a two-run bomb, his 19th home run of the season.

An inning later, the lineup tacked on three more, as Freeman drove in a pair with another single, and Muncy one more with a knock of his own.

Overall, everyone, but Austin Barnes got in on the fun, with the other eight hitters in the lineup all getting a hit, including five multi-hit games from the top four in the order, and Heyward as well.

Sheehan, much like Grove, manages to survive Coors Field

There wasn’t anything outstanding about Sheehan’s outing in this Thursday matchup, much like there wasn’t for Michael Grove on Wednesday, but understanding the context, both did a heck of a job.

Sheehan tossed five innings on 88 pitches, allowing three runs on seven hits, and most importantly, in these settings, did not walk a single batter. Sheehan also managed a strikeout per inning, with five on the night.

By the time the bullpen was asked to come on, the game was thoroughly out of hand for Colorado, as the Rockies trailed 12-3. And with it, there weren’t many stressful pitches for the Dodgers relievers, to wrap up this series victory.

Thursday particulars

Home run: J.D. Martinez (19)

WP — Emmett Sheehan (2-0): 5 IP, 7 hits, 3 runs, 5 strikeouts

LP — Chase Anderson (0-3): 3⅔ hits, 6 hits, 6 runs, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers will travel to Kansas City for a weekend set with the Royals, beginning on Friday night (5:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA), as a couple of rookie arms will battle it out in Bobby Miller and Alec Marsh, with the latter making his big league debut.