De La Rosa 2Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado’s defense in the first inning Sunday afternoon was highlight-worthy, but it’s come to be expected. Maybe now pitching like Sunday’s outing by left-hander Jorge De La Rosa should fall into the same category.

Pitching like the staff leader the Rockies wanted when they christened him to start on Opening Day, De La Rosa held the Dodgers to four hits and forced 13 ground-ball outs in seven innings of a 6-1 victory at Dodger Stadium in front of a sellout crowd of 52,359.

The Rockies (14-12) took 2-of-3 at Chavez Ravine, which improved their road record within the NL West to 5-5, with three games at Arizona starting Monday. Yes, it’s only late April, but by dominating at home and being competitive on the road, it is a good formula for surprise contention after two straight last-place finishes. The defending NL West champion Dodgers (14-12) finished the homestand at 4-6.

Late April is as good a time as any for De La Rosa (2-2) to find his form. After pitching an unacceptable 4 1/3 innings in the first three starts, then having some good sequences but not total efficiency in his next two.

That was more than enough for an offense that is formidable even though it received little in the series from stars Troy Tulowitzki (1-for-12) and Carlos Gonzalez (1-for-14). Sunday’s 0-for-5 performance ran Gonzalez’s slump to 7-for-53 (.130) in his last 13 games.

 

Source: MLB