With chance to move up, Dodgers held down

LOS ANGELES -- When it comes to scoreboard watching, every player and manager is different, and the Dodgers clubhouse is a prime example. For instance, manager Don Mattingly said he's always watching how other teams are doing from the very beginning of the year, while center fielder Matt Kemp said he couldn't care less.

Whether they were watching it or not Monday night, the Dodgers were presented with a golden opportunity to take over first place in the National League West with the Giants losing earlier in the day.

However, Los Angeles came up empty, lost 2-0 to the Rockies and squandered a chance to move a half-game up on San Francisco in the division.

"I could care less what the Giants are doing right now," Kemp said. "All I do is care about what our team is doing and that is trying to win a game. I don't care about any other team but the Dodgers and the team that we are playing."

That team the Dodgers were playing Monday was fresh off a 1-8 homestand and sporting the second-worst record in baseball. Despite Colorado's track record coming in, it was L.A. that failed to get any offense going.

The Dodgers went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and managed just three hits in four innings off starter Drew Pomeranz, who entered the game 1-6 with a 5.13 ERA, and two more against a bullpen that sported a 4.42 ERA.

"They did what they needed to do to shut us down," Kemp said.

On the pitching end, Chris Capuano wasn't perfect, but he limited the Rockies to only two runs and did enough to keep the Dodgers in the game.

He gave up nine hits in seven innings, but he kept the scoring to a minimum thanks to six strikeouts and two double plays.

"I was just struggling with command early in the game and I was happy the last couple of innings," said Capuano, who has gone 1-6 since June 28 in eight starts. "I started to feel stronger and started to get the ball to where I was trying to get it. It was a little bit of a battle to get through those first four or five and I felt pretty good to the end."

However, by then, it was too late as the two runs scored by the Rockies were all they needed.

The first run came in the first inning, when Eric Young scored on a sacrifice fly from Carlos Gonzalez with one out. The speedy right fielder scored again in the third when he, Dexter Fowler and Jordan Pacheco hit three straight singles off Capuano.

"If kind of felt like we were going to score as the game went on, but it seemed like we just didn't get our opportunities," Mattingly said. "And when we had them, we didn't do anything with them."

The Dodgers stranded 10 runners, including at least one in six innings.

"To shut this club out isn't an easy thing to do, especially with the lineup they are throwing out there," Colorado manager Jim Tracy said.

One of those opportunities came in the seventh on a controversial sequence of events that featured arguments from both managers. With A.J. Ellis on first and two outs, Shane Victorino hit a fly ball to center that was initially ruled a catch by Dexter Fowler on a ball that looked like it might have been trapped.

Mattingly came out to question the call, and it was ruled a hit after an umpire meeting on the field.

After a lengthy argument by Tracy and his ensuing ejection, reliever Adam Ottavino and the rest of the rest of Colorado defense came back on the field to continue the inning with runners on first and second.

Two pitches later, Mark Ellis flied out to the warning track to Gonzalez in left field. L.A. stranded another two baserunners in the eighth.

"We didn't come out flat," said Kemp, who extended his hitting streak to nine games in the eighth. "We just didn't score any runs."