Rockies felled by ball lost in the rain, squander Dollander’s dominance of Dodgers

Rockies Report, Game 80:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: It was an extraordinary pitcher’s duel between Colorado’s Chase Dollander and Los Angeles’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto, with the Rockies’ rookie proving to be the equal of the ballyhooed, high-priced Japanese import.

It was everything you’d expect from two electric pitchers … until a thunderstorm pelted Coors Field. And in a season in which every turn of fate seems to kick the Rockies while they’re down, the hometown nine absorbed yet another shot to the groin.

The stands were being cleared out of concern for the safety of the 43,881 on hand in the top of the sixth inning. The game should have been paused. But with thick raindrops dousing the Rockies and Dodgers as Max Muncy came to bat, the game continued, with two outs and two runners on base, presumably to try and get through the top of the inning.

Anyone with even a cursory familiarity with this historic debacle of a season could predict what would happen next.

A routine pop-up became anything but.

Second baseman Thairo Estrada called for the ball. But then he appeared to lose sight of it and moved his hands toward his head as if to protect himself. First baseman Michael Toglia instinctively moved his glove toward his head to protect himself.

And the ball bounced on the dirt roughly three feet from Toglia, who just one night earlier endured a nightmarish fourth inning in which he committed two errors and misfired on a throw to home plate.

This time, all Toglia could do was cast his eyes up to the damp, darkening heavens with the ball in his left hand. Dalton Rushing and Shohei Ohtani had crossed home plate.

“Just tough luck there,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer said after the game.

Chase Dollander’s scoreless gem was gone, melted in the rain. Another run was charged to him when Jake Bird entered after the 87-minute rain delay and yielded a pair of singles, scoring Muncy.

Rain is on our side 😎#Dodgers go up 2-0! pic.twitter.com/qcIf1KVjpE

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) June 26, 2025

It was a reminder that this Rockies team has dealt with some dollops of misfortune and simple bad luck to go along with the well-noted organizational issues that have culminated in a near-half-season that has them on pace for the worst record in the 162-game era.

Colorado got one run back in the bottom of the sixth on a madcap defensive play from Los Angeles, when Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages turned and air-mailed a throw to Muncy into the dugout, scoring Tyler Freeman from third base.

But it all fell apart in the seventh inning. Bird’s recent woes continued as he loaded the bases on a single and two walks, one of which was intentional to Ohtani.

Then Tyler Kinley relieved Bird and faced Muncy. His first two sliders fell high in the strike zone; one was a called strike, the other was fouled away.

The third slider settled in the heart of the strike zone and landed 418 feet away in the Colorado bullpen, effectively settling matters.

The final score ended up being 8-1; Colorado fell to 18-62.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

The ledger will show “loss” for Dollander. Because of the timing of the thunderstorm, he won’t even get a quality start, because even if the umpires had stopped the game when they should have, he wouldn’t have returned to close the sixth inning.

But the win-loss statistic means bupkis and the only thing that wasn’t “quality” about the start will be the official designation. Given the strength of the opposition, Dollander has never looked better — and appeared to be Yamamoto’s equal.

“He matched him,” Schaeffer said.

He retired the first six Dodgers he faced, delivered clean innings in four of the six frames he worked, easily escaped from the jams he faced. He kept the ball in the park; this was just the fifth start in 13 so far this season in which he has not allowed a home run.

Dollander’s 77-pitch night was exquisite and efficient. He induced 11 ground balls, something he has struggled to do, which has led to high pitch counts in previous starts.

It was ace stuff from a pitcher in whom the Rox have so much hope.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Muncy crushed Kinley’s 0-2 slider.

NUMBER TO NOTE: 10.7 — Average number of ground balls induced by Dollander in his last three starts, 5.0 more than his average in his first 10 starts.

WHAT’S NEXT: Colorado concludes the homestand with Austin Gomber making his third start of the season. Los Angeles will counter with Clayton Kershaw, who will make his 51st career start against the Rockies. First pitch will be at 1:10 p.m. MDT.

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