Rockies surprise Dodgers for Opening Day victory after Turner’s gaffe

For the first time since 2019, baseball fans streamed into Coors Field, and the Rockies rewarded them with a surprising, 8-5 victory over the defending World Series champion Dodgers and their ace, Clayton Kershaw.

“We had a really good game,” said shortstop Trevor Story. “We were putting the ball in play, hitting the ball hard, as well. We kept the pressure on, which is something we have talked about.”

The Rockies battered Kershaw, smacking 10 hits and scoring six runs off the three-time Cy Young winner — more than Kershaw had given up in his previous eight Opening Day starts.

Rockies starter German Marquez fared better, scattering six hits and six walks over four innings, yet allowing only a lone run before departing. It should have been worse.

In the third inning, Dodgers centerfielder Cody Bellinger hit a two-run home run to left after Raimel Tapia’s valiant catch attempt ended up with the ball falling out of his glove and over the wall. The Dodgers’ Justin Turner was on first and running to third, but when he saw Tapia apparently make the catch, he whipped around and scrambled back toward first, where Bellinger, who saw that Tapia had lost it, ran right by him between first and second. By rule, Bellinger was called out and granted a single and an RBI in the scorebook.

Despite serving up a fastball that regularly reached 98 miles per hour, closer Daniel Bard made it interesting in the top of the ninth, loading the bases for L.A.’s Mookie Betts before getting Betts to line out to second to save the game.

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NEXT UP: Rockies (1-0, T-1st in NL West) vs. Dodgers (0-1, T-3rd, NL West) | Friday, Apr. 2 at 6:40 p.m. | COL: Antonio Senzatela (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs LAD: Trevor Bauer (0-0, 0.00 ERA).

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NOTES

• Trevor Story was 2-for-5 on Thursday in what was possibly his last Opening Day as a member of the Rockies. Story is a free agent after the season and expected to command a salary similar to the one the Rockies gave Nolan Arenado prior to trading him away to the Cardinals in the offseason.

• Josh Fuentes became the first player to start on Opening Day for the Rockies at third base since 2014, after Arenado took the position over during the 2013 season. Fuentes, who went 1-for-5 at the plate, played solid defense and started a pair of double-plays on Thursday. Fuentes is Arenado’s first cousin; his mother, Mercedes, is the sister of Arenado’s dad, Fernando.

• C.J. Cron, who hit 55 home runs over two seasons with the Rays and Twins from 2018 to 2019, went 2-for-4 in his Rockies debut. Cron hit all of four home runs last season with the Tigers, but is expected to be one of the Rockies’ few power sources in the lineup.

• Chris Owings started at second base Thursday and went 3-for-3 with a walk, and RBI and three runs scored. Owings, 29, will likely bounce around the infield for the Rockies over the course of this season.

• Antonio Senzatela will start Friday’s game against the Dodgers as the Rockies’ No. 2 starter. Senzatela was the Rockies’ most improved pitcher and added nearly four miles an hour to his average fastball in the offseason.

• Jhoulys Chacin returned to the Rockies after signing with the club on Thursday. Chacin, 33, went 38-48 with a 3.78 ERA as a member of the Rockies from his rookie season of 2009 through 2014. “One of the first teams to call was the Rockies and it was so great to come back here,” Chacin explained. “This is home for me. This is where I grew up. I’m just happy to be back.” Chacin will start in the bullpen, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to envision him in the starting rotation at some point.

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THE FINAL WORD

“It’s rare you see that home run and then the batter/runner pass the fellow who was on base. But it happened today.” — Rockies manager Bud Black, on an odd series of events that saw Cody Bellinger’s two-run home run end up as an RBI single. Bellinger was called out after teammate Justin Turner mistakenly doubled back to first base.

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INJURY WATCH

• Kyle Freeland (strained left shoulder) was placed on the 10-day IL on Apr. 1. He is expected back in early May.
• Brendan Rodgers (strained right hamstring) was placed on the 10-day IL on Apr. 1.
• Scott Oberg (blood clots) had surgery prior to the end of Spring Training. He was placed on the 60-day IL on Mar. 27 and his season is in doubt.

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STARTING LINEUP

LF Raimel Tapia
3B Josh Fuentes
SS Trevor Story
RF Charlie Blackmon
1B C.J. Cron
C Elias Diaz
2B Chris Owings
CF Garrett Hampson
SP German Marquez

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Shawn Drotar is the host of “The Fan Late Night with Shawn Drotar;” weeknights from 10:00 p.m. to midnight — only on 104.3 The Fan. Follow him on Twitter at @sdrotar.

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