Hughes Solid in First Start for Rockies

Watching Gabriel Hughes pitch for the Colorado Rockies against the Los Angeles Dodgers was worth it. Making his MLB starting pitcher debut, Hughes gave up three runs in the first inning but settled down.

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The Dodgers, though, scored a game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat the Rockies 4-3. Mind you, Colorado had chances to take the lead themselves, yet could not come up with a big hit.

Back to Hughes. In six innings of work against a powerful Dodgers lineup with the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts facing Hughes, he allowed three earned runs on four hits, walked two, and seven strikeouts.

Hughes got better after first inning

Once Hughes got those first-inning jitters out of the way, his lively fastball was simply too much for veteran Los Angeles hitters to make constant contact. With a start like this, it must make Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer think about giving Hughes a regular turn in his rotation.

According to Baseball Savant, Hughes uses his four-seam fastball 65% of the time, followed by his sweeper. He's lightly used a curveball and changeup, but he relies a lot on that four-seamer to do most of his heavy lifting.

He averages 93.6 mph on the four-seam fastball, while hitting the gun at 85 mph on his sweeper. Anytime a batter faces up against Hughes, they are going to be challenged by both of his top pitches. That four-seam fastball, though, will make a lot of them eventually turn around and head back to the dugout.

Brennan Bernardino worked a clean seventh, but Antonio Senzatela couldn't come through in the eighth inning. Senzatela gave up the game-winning run on three hits, didn't walk a batter, and struck out two. He picked up his first loss this season, falling to 8-1.

Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki ran into trouble spots during his six innings of work, but just allowed three earned runs. Sasaki allowed four hits, walked one batter, struck out five, and gave up two home runs. 

Hernandez gets win for Dodgers

Reliever Enrique Hernandez, the fourth pitcher of the night for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, worked a third of an inning in the eighth. He got the victory, putting his record at 4-0. Tanner Scott came on in the ninth and kept the Rockies off the scoreboard, earning his 13th save this season.

Kyle Karros hit his eighth home run this season, a solo blast off of Sasaki in the second inning. Edouard Julien smoked his third homer, also in the second inning and, again, off of Sasaki. Mickey Moniak's sacrifice fly in the third inning tied the game up at 3-3.

That's how it remained until the bottom of the eighth inning.

Before the eighth, though, let's go back to the fourth inning. Kyle Karros rocketed a double down the third-base line that was too hot to handle for Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy. TJ Rumfield, who already was on base, went to third. This gave Colorado runners at second and third base with nobody out.

This was a golden opportunity for the next three Rockies hitters to drive in a run. That, though, did not happen. Again, in the top of the eighth, Jake McCarthy hit a ground-rule double to right as the ball bounced over the small fence in right field. Braxton Fulford rounded third base toward home, but was sent back to third base.

Missed opportunities for Colorado

Surely, the Rockies could find a way to get a guy home from third base. McCarthy and Fulford were aboard, again with nobody out. Hunter Goodman struck out. Then, with the bases loaded and one out, TJ Rumfield struck out. Karros then flew out to Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker.

These missed opportunities came back to bite Colorado in a big way.

With Tommy Edman on base, Freddie Freeman singled to Rockies right fielder Tyler Freeman. That put runners on first and third base. Mookie Betts' one-out single scored Edman with the game-winning run.

It was an awful way for Colorado to end its three-game series at Dodger Stadium.

Now, though, the Rockies' attention turns to Oracle Park, where they will open a four-game series against the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night.

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