Dodgers pitching stays strong, cruising over Rockies

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers took an advantage of a wild and sloppy Rockies team, and got more strong pitching in a 6-1 victory Friday night at Dodger Stadium, the sixth win in a row for Los Angeles.

For a while it looked like a potential third straight low-scoring affair. Freddie Freeman singled home David Peralta in the third inning for the Dodgers’ first run. They might have scored one inning earlier were it not for center fielder Brenton Doyle unleashing a great and accurate throw home to nail Amed Rosario at the plate.

Those two were key for the Dodgers in the fifth. Mookie Betts led off with a double, and aggressively took third on Freeman’s flyout to Doyle, easily beating an errant throw. One out later, Rosario beat out a potential double-play ball at first base that would have otherwise ended the inning. Instead, Betts scored, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 advantage, the same score of Thursday’s game.

Lance Lynn finally allowed a run that wasn’t a home run with the Dodgers, and it came on a throwing error. In the fourth inning, Ezequiel Tovar singled and Doyle walked to open the inning. Ryan McMahon singled on a bouncer up the third base line, and when Kiké Hernández threw errantly into short right field, a run scored.

Lynn responded by striking out the next two batters followed by a harmless flyout, stranding two runners in scoring position. He’s won all three starts since getting traded to the Dodgers.

The bottom of the fifth inning began with a single as well, but Lynn struck out the next three batters, giving him nine in five innings. His 18 swinging strikes are tied for second-most in a game by a Dodgers starting pitcher this season.

Old friend Justin Bruihl, who was traded by the Dodgers to the Rockies for cash on August 1, was called up from Triple-A on Friday, and entered the sixth inning for Colorado. He did not complete the frame.

Bruihl got Kiké Hernández to ground out to open the inning, but failed to retire his next four batters. David Peralta doubled home a run, just the second extra-base hit by a left-handed batter in 33 plate appearances against Bruihl this season. Bruihl hit Miguel Rojas on the foot with a pitch to load the bases in a 3-1 game.

Jake Bird relieved him, and immediately hit Mookie Betts to force in another run. Freddie Freeman flew out to left field for a sacrifice fly, only Jurickson Profar somehow didn’t catch it. Will Smith added a traditional sacfrifice fly to cap the four-run inning. All four runs were charged to Bruihl, three of them earned, providing a more comfortable margin to finish this one out.

Caleb Ferguson, Alex Vesia, Yency Almonte, and Ryan Brasier combined for four scoreless innings of relief, allowing only two hits. They struck out seven batters in total. Almonte got five outs and was poised to finish the game, but felt something on a pitch and had to exit the game.

Almonte will be evaluated on Saturday, but could be headed for the injured list, Dave Roberts said.

The Dodgers are now 10-1 in August, allowing only 34 runs, giving up three runs or fewer seven times.

Friday particulars

Home runs: none

WP — Lance Lynn (9-9): 5 IP, 4 hits, 1 unearned run, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts

LP — Austin Gomber (9-9): 5 IP, 8 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers turn to Tony Gonsolin on Saturday (6:10 p.m., MLB Network), with Peter Lambert going for the Rockies, the only right-handed starter of this weekend series for Colorado.