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DENVER –– What’s the best way for the Dodgers to work around an elbow injury to closer Edwin Díaz?
How about by building leads so big, they don’t even have a save situation come the ninth inning.
That’s what happened Monday in 12-3 blowout of the Colorado Rockies, helping the Dodgers salvage a four-game series split at Coors Field after suffering losses the previous two days.
Before the game, all the attention was on Díaz, who the team announced is undergoing elbow surgery this week to remove loose bodies that had caused his early-season velocity to dip.
In his absence, manager Dave Roberts said the Dodgers (16-6) will go closer-by-committee when it comes to ninth-inning save situations. For one night, however, he didn’t have to make such a decision.
Instead, the lineup build an insurmountable lead, bludgeoning veteran left-hander José Quintana for six runs in his start en route to scoring in all but two innings overall.
The onslaught began with back-to-back second-inning home runs from Max Muncy and Miguel Rojas, propelling that duo to a combined 7-for-7 performance from the Nos. 6-7 spots that was punctuated by another Muncy homer in the ninth.
Shohei Ohtani extended his on-base streak to 52 games, reaching base three times on a single and two walks.
Dalton Rushing also belted his sixth and seventh home runs of the season, putting him stunningly one off the National League lead (for which Muncy is tied with eight) despite having just 27 at-bats all year.
All of that meant, once the Dodgers finally turned things over to the bullpen, relievers Edgardo Henriquez and newly-recalled Jake Eder didn’t face anything close to stress.
By that point, the team had already long pulled away.
For one night, at least, Díaz was not missed.
What it means
Splitting a four-game set with the rebuilding Rockies (9-14) will go down as a disappointing result for the Dodgers.
Still, by winning on Monday, they avoided what would’ve been their first series defeat to Colorado since 2022 –– improving to 12-0-4 in their last 16 meetings against their NL West division foe.
This season, the Dodgers have dropped just one of their first seven series, remaining unbeaten since the Cleveland Guardians took two of three from them during the opening homestand.
Who’s hot
Rojas’ second-inning blast might have been his first home run of the season. But it was not his most meaningful swing of the night.
That came in the fourth, when he lined a single to left field for the 1,000th hit of his 13-year career.
The accomplishment was not lost on Rojas, who pumped his fists and looked to the skies as he trotted up the first-base line. The Dodgers made sure to get the ball returned to the visiting dugout, too.
In all, Rojas went 3-for-3 –– in addition to dropping down a run-scoring sacrifice bunt –– to continue what has been a strong start to his final season before retirement. In 13 games, he is now batting .382 with a .950 OPS.
Who’s not
The Rockies’ defense, which did not help the team’s cause on an embarrassingly ugly night.
The club committed three errors and two that directly led to runs, including a seemingly routine grounder to third baseman Kyle Karros in the third inning that spun away from him to aid a two-run rally.
There was also a costly balk in the fourth from Quintana –– who appeared to have escaped a bases-loaded jam on a lineout double-play from Ohtani, only for the third base umpire to rule he had twitched before the pitch, forcing in another score as the Dodgers pulled away.
Up next
The Dodgers were headed to the airport postgame to catch a flight to San Francisco, where they will begin their first series of the season against the rival Giants on Tuesday night. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-1, 2.10 ERA) will face Landon Roupp (3-1, 2.38 ERA) in the opener.
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