Teoscar Hernández homered twice and Emmet Sheehan delivered one of his sharpest starts of the season as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 7-2 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, widening their National League West lead to two games over the San Diego Padres.
Oddsmakers listed the Dodgers as heavy -280 favorites entering the contest, with the Rockies priced as +230 underdogs. The run total closed at 8.5, a line that went over after late scoring.
Sheehan (6-3) set the tone with seven strong innings, retiring the first 15 batters he faced before Kyle Karros — son of former Dodgers first baseman Eric Karros — singled to left leading off the sixth. The right-hander allowed only three hits, struck out nine, and surrendered a lone run when Tyler Freeman drove in Karros with an RBI single. It was a dominant outing reminiscent of Sheehan’s 2023 major league debut, when he threw six no-hit innings.
Los Angeles backed its starter with four home runs. Mookie Betts opened the scoring surge in the third inning with a two-run drive to left-center, extending the Dodgers’ lead to 3-0. Hernández added solo shots in the fourth and eighth innings, giving him 80 RBIs on the season. Freddie Freeman contributed with a homer of his own in the sixth, while Shohei Ohtani padded the advantage with an RBI single in the fifth.
Colorado starter Germán Márquez (3-13) continued his struggles, allowing five runs on six hits over five innings. The right-hander has not earned a victory since June 18, and Tuesday’s defeat pushed him to a career-high 13 losses on the season.
The Rockies, who already secured a franchise-record 105th loss, avoided being blanked when Freeman’s run-scoring single in the sixth got them on the board. Catcher Hunter Goodman added his 30th home run in the ninth off Dodgers reliever Tanner Scott, but it was too late to change the outcome.
Hernández led the Dodgers’ offense with three hits, while Freeman and Betts each contributed home runs that energized a crowd eager to see the division leaders bounce back from their weekend sweep in Baltimore. The victory was Los Angeles’ second straight after enduring a rough patch that temporarily allowed San Diego to close the gap in the standings.
Colorado’s loss was its fourth in a row and seventh in its last eight games. With 17 games remaining, the Rockies continue to extend a historically poor season that has left them buried at the bottom of the National League.
The Dodgers (77-57) remain in firm control of the NL West race, with San Diego (75-59) still lurking two games back after dropping a home decision to Cincinnati on the same night.
The series continues Wednesday, with Colorado sending left-hander Kyle Freeland (4-14, 5.10 ERA) to the mound. Freeland is coming off an eight-inning shutout effort against the Padres in his previous start. The Dodgers counter with left-hander Blake Snell (3-4, 3.19 ERA), who gave up five earned runs over five innings in a loss at Pittsburgh last Thursday.