The 2021 Los Angeles Dodgers opening series was against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, in Colorado. Most people expected the Dodgers to win the four-game series, which they did. The Dodgers won three games and lost one — the Season Opener. All four games were good; however, something odd happened in each of them. The Dodgers and Rockies both had pretty solid offenses and defenses overall, but there were some key plays that could have changed the trajectory of each game. We will look at each game and the crazy or odd things that happened in them, as well as their impacts on the games.
Home Run Single in Game One
The Rockies won the first game of the Dodgers opening series, 8-5. The Dodgers had all the momentum going into the third inning. They had four hits and two walks already, but no runs. Things got bizarre in the third inning. After Corey Seager grounded out and Justin Turner singled, Cody Bellinger came up with one on and one out.
Bellinger proceeded to hit the ball over the left-field fence. As Turner got near second base, he saw Raimel Tapia jump up, reach over the wall, and catch the ball. As a result, he started running back to first. However, Turner could not see that when Tapia’s arm hit the wall, the momentum carried the ball out of his glove and over the wall for a home run.
Although Bellinger was signaling to him that it was a home run, Turner didn’t see it right away. He eventually saw the signal and trotted around to score. However, they had already crossed paths — rendering Bellinger out for passing a base runner. Turner’s run still counted, but Bellinger’s homer is scored as an RBI single, and that was where the momentum shifted. The next batter got out, then the Rockies scored two in each of the third, fifth, sixth, and seventh innings—proving to be too much for the Dodgers to handle, and they lost the opener.
Game Two: No-Hitter into the Seventh
The Dodgers brought their bats in Game Two and put on an absolute hitting clinic. While Trevor Bauer was no-hitting the Rockies through six, the Dodgers offense was putting up 10 runs. All 10 runs, along with the five from Opening Day, were manufactured. The Dodgers were still looking for their first official long ball of the season.
Bauer’s no-no came to an abrupt end when Trevor Story hit a single, followed by a Charlie Blackmon homer, followed by a walk to C.J. Cron, and finishing off with a Ryan McMahon home run. Consequently, Bauer went from no hits through six to three hits and four runs before even recording an out in the seventh. He struck out Garrett Hampson and passed the ball off to David Price for his Dodgers debut.
Price’s debut was a little “rocky” at Coors Field. He started off his Dodgers career by giving up back-to-back homers to Dom Nunez and Sam Hilliard. After that, it went single-strikeout, single-strikeout, and the nightmare inning was over. When the dust settled, the Rockies had scored all of their six total runs in that inning. The Dodgers manufactured one more on a triple and sacrifice fly in the eighth and won, 11-6.
Game Three: McKinstry’s First MLB Home Run
Game Three was a game of firsts. It was the first game in which the Rockies scored first. They did so in the third on a Tapia solo shot and again in the fourth when McMahon doubled in Cron. It was also Zach McKinstry’s first MLB home run and the Dodgers’ first homer of the year. Rockies players Josh Fuentes and Tapia also hit their first homers of the year.
The Dodgers manufactured three runs in the sixth and another in the seventh to go up 4-2. Then, the Rockies tied it up on Fuentes’ homer in the bottom of the seventh. That is when it got bizarre. Zach McKinstry came up after Austin Barnes and Edwin Rios had both popped out. McKinstry broke the tie by hitting his first major league home run over the left-field wall.
Tapia again leaped high and got a glove on the ball after it had cleared the wall. However, this time it hit just above the palm of his glove, rolled up the pocket, and out the top—hooking backward over Tapia and back onto the field. Tapia hit the wall hard and was shaken up a little on the play, so McKinstry turned on the afterburners and scored. It was a first MLB home run that left the yard, came back in, and became an in-the-park home run. The Dodgers tacked on another one in the inning, and the Rockies got back within one in the bottom of the eighth to arrive at what became the final score of 6-5.
Game Four: Hitless Three-Run First
Sunday was bizarre right away in the top of the first inning. The Dodgers scored three runs without a hit which eventually proved to be enough to win the game, though they added an insurance run in the eighth and ended up winning, 4-2. Julio Urias was lights out in his 2021 Season Debut—going seven innings and giving up only three hits, one run, and one walk, with six strikeouts.
The three-run first started with a walk to Betts and a fielder’s choice hit to the pitcher by AJ Pollock. Austin Gomber tried to get two but threw the ball into center-field, and Mookie Betts advanced to third. Gomber then loaded the bases by walking Turner. All of the runners advanced on a wild pitch, scoring Betts. Gomber struck Will Smith out on a foul tip and walked Max Muncy to load the bases again. Run number two scored when Chris Taylor walked, and the inning ended with a double play on a sacrifice fly hit by Gavin Lux. Muncy got thrown out trying to tag up at second and advance to third.
The Dodgers Opening Series was a Strange One
This 2021 Dodgers Opening Series was one to remember. The bizarre things that happened with the three-run, no-hit, first inning; McKinstry’s first MLB home run that left the yard, came back in and became an in-the-park homer; and Bellinger’s home run single. However, the bottom line is that the Dodgers have finished this series by taking three out of four from Colorado. This start is tied for the best in the West because the San Diego Padres opened the year by taking three out of four from the Arizona Diamondbacks. This will be a wild and exciting battle in the NL West since it has, arguably, the two best teams in the NL. Of course, the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets will have something to say about that. It is going to be an action-packed season this year and that was a great opening series, so now it is on to Oakland.
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Players Mentioned:
Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, Raimel Tapia, Trevor Bauer, Trevor Story, Charlie Blackmon, C.J. Cron, Ryan McMahon, David Price, Dom Nunez, Sam Hilliard, Zach McKinstry, Josh Fuentes, Austin Barnes, Edwin Rios, AJ Pollock, Austin Gomber, Mookie Betts, Will Smith, Max Muncy, Gavin Lux, Chris Taylor
