Rockies pass a big test in showdown with reigning champs

DENVER -- In a season all about learning and growing, the Rockies’ four-game set against the Dodgers this week was a test.

Not to see how the Rockies stack up against the defending World Series champions, but to measure just how much progress has been made by a club that has been trending upward since the start of the second half.

The improvements weren’t evident in Thursday’s 9-5 loss to wrap up the series at Coors Field, but a broader look at the series -- and the second half as a whole -- suggests otherwise. The key hasn’t just been playing smarter or showing resilience, but simply continuing to forge ahead.

“I think we do a good job moving on,” Rockies shortstop Ryan Ritter said. “We obviously have been through some struggles this year, but I feel like we’re a team that believes in what we have here. We’re showing what we have. Ultimately, putting things behind us and moving forward is what we have been doing here.”

The Rockies are 15-17 since the All-Star break after splitting a four-game set with the Dodgers for the first time since Sept. 26-28, 2023. They have won five series during the second half after claiming only two in the entire first half.

A driving force behind those results? Young players taking advantage of their opportunities.

Take recent callups Warming Bernabel and Kyle Karros, who have contributed to an improved offense whose 102 runs scored in August are tied for the third-most in baseball. Bernabel was the hero in Monday’s opener, which snapped a 10-game losing skid against the Dodgers. Tanner Gordon has highlighted a group of several young arms who have made positive strides on the mound, as he displayed in Wednesday’s win.

“Facing a good team like they are and doing well, that gives us a lot of confidence moving forward, knowing what we can do as a team,” Ritter said. “Any time you face a team like the Dodgers and have success, you’re doing something right.”

Interim manager Warren Schaeffer agrees that a showdown with one of the National League’s best has exemplified the progress Colorado has made since he took over for Bud Black in May amid a historically bad start.

But a different opponent doesn’t mean a change in mindset.

“It’s a really good team over there, everyone knows that,” Schaeffer said. “They’re the defending world champs. But we’re looking every game -- no matter who the opponent is -- to throw nine solid innings out there and try to get a win.”

Quickly moving on from the failures as a way to find success has been important, and it’s exactly what the Rockies will try to do after Thursday.

Rookie right-hander Chase Dollander couldn’t make it through four innings after allowing seven earned runs to a Dodgers lineup that got to him right out of the gate. Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman belted a two-run home run following a leadoff walk to put Colorado in an early hole. Miguel Rojas laid down a bunt single to score a run and Will Smith was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to add to the Dodgers’ lead in the second.

Dollander allowed three more runs before he was removed, taking another step back in his third start since being recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque where he spent over a month ironing out his struggles. He’s another young player viewed as an important cog in the Rockies’ rebuild, and one the club hopes can gain enough experience in his first season to build upon for the future.

“Even in rough outings there’s good things that you can take away,” Schaeffer said. “Not everything he did out there was bad today. He did a lot of good things. But you have to take the good, you have to take the not-so-good, learn from them both and move forward.”

Progress doesn’t happen overnight, especially for a largely inexperienced team still trying to cut their teeth in the Majors. It’s taken plenty of work and improvement for the Rockies to get to where they are now -- still a far cry from where they ultimately want to be.

But this series was an encouraging step in the right direction.

“We’re starting to play the brand of baseball that we should have been playing from the start,” center fielder Brenton Doyle said. “Post All-Star break, the games have been way more competitive, the series have been a lot better. It’s easy to build off a series like that.”