Randy Newman’s 1983 song “I Love LA” booms from the speakers at Dodger Stadium after every win in Los Angeles.
The Rockies need to hear this song in their dreams. Or nightmares.
The Dodgers beat them again Wednesday night, winning 4-2, sending the Rockies to their fifth straight loss. As of September 9, 2018, the Rockies have lost 32 out of 40 games against Los Angeles, including 18 out of 21 in Chavez Ravine.
“Obviously we’re not playing the baseball we want to play right now,” said all-star shortstop Trevor Story of his 3-9 team. “Guys feel that. But every day we show up we feel like we’re going to win. We are convinced of that.
“Of course this road trip wasn’t that great and we just need to get the process going a little better and execute it better.”
In the third inning the frustration boiled over.
Rockies manager Bud Black blew up home plate referee Phil Cuzzi and was kicked out for the 32nd time in his career, the seventh time with the Rockies. Black was rightly upset by Cuzzi’s attack on Garret Hampson. Starter Dustin May’s pitch was well below the strike zone. Black also thought that Rockies starter Jon Gray was “crushed” by Cuzzi in the first inning.
“I think we’re at one of those points where we don’t get calls and we don’t take advantage of some situations where we can score,” said bank coach Mike Redmond, who took over for Black. “Buddy did what managers do and sometimes you have to get kicked out to make a point.”
The only good news for the Rockies was that they finally made home plate.
Colorado hadn’t scored a run in 26 innings as it stretched back to the top of the fifth inning in San Francisco on Saturday. The losing streak finally ended in the fifth inning. It was by no means the required downpour, but the two runs reduced LA’s lead to 3-2.
Gray gave the Rockies a professional start – an emphasis on work. It took 89 pitches to get through his four innings, including 36 pitches in the first two-run LA inning. Still, Gray kept the Rockies in the game and went 3-0 back with his team.
“I think I made the right adjustment,” said Gray. “I was just too late in the first (inning) and I think that kept me from going five or six.”
