MLB/ Conforto and Ohtani homer as NL West-leading Dodgers hold off last-place Rockies 9-7
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani looks on from the dugout in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies on June 24 in Denver. (AP Photo)
DENVER –Michael Conforto hit a three-run homer, Shohei Ohtani added a two-run shot and the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers held off the last-place Colorado Rockies 9-7 on Tuesday night.
Trailing 2-0, the Dodgers got their bats cranked up in a six-run fourth inning. Conforto sent a knuckle-curve from Germán Márquez (3-9) over the fence in right.
Ohtani lined his 27th homer of the season into the left-field seats in the sixth to make it 8-3. Ohtani finished 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Jordan Beck had a two-run double for Colorado in eighth to make it an 8-7 game. Teoscar Hernández added an insurance run with an RBI double in the ninth. Tanner Scott closed it out with a game-ending double play to record his 16th save.
Justin Wrobleski (3-2) pitched five innings and allowed two runs while striking out seven. He took over after Jack Dreyer handled the first.
It was a rough fourth frame for Rockies first baseman Michael Toglia, who committed two fielding errors and threw wide on another occasion trying to get a runner at home. Toglia had a productive night at the plate with three double and two RBIs.
Márquez allowed six runs (four earned) over four innings.
The Rockies dropped to 18-61 overall and 8-30 at Coors Field. They have yet to win back-to-back home games this season.
Third baseman Max Muncy made a nifty barehanded play on a slow roller to throw out Thairo Estrada in the first inning and save a run. Estrada was originally ruled safe but the Dodgers challenged and the call was overturned.
The Dodgers have 11 comeback wins in June over 22 games.
The Dodgers will send RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-6, 2.76 ERA) to the mound Wednesday while the Rockies counter with RHP Chase Dollander (2-7, 6.19).
Padres closer Robert Suarez had his suspension for hitting Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani reduced by a single game on Tuesday night.
Suarez was initially hit with a three-game suspension and an undisclosed fine from the league after he drilled Ohtani in the shoulder last Thursday, which came after a bench-clearing brawl that saw both managers ejected. Suarez dropped his appeal on Tuesday after his suspension was reduced to two games, according to The Athletic.
The incident started after Dodgers rookie Jack Little hit Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. in the wrist. That sparked a huge brawl, which came at the end of an already heated four-game series. Both Ohtani and Tatis were hit by pitches earlier in the series just half an inning apart, too.
