This one clearly falls in the ‘Should Have Won’ category, especially against a Colorado Rockies team with a (now) 41-53 record – second-worst in the NL West to only the 27-68 Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Dodgers didn’t win.

Instead, they made two game-changing errors and had two blown saves in the eventual 6-5 / 10-inning loss to the NL West fourth place Rockies.

Amazingly, both of those errors were committed by two of the most surehanded guys in the game – Dodgers All-Star third baseman Justin Turner (.951 FPCT) and Dodgers All-Star utility infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor (combined .973 FPCT). And though Turner’s error did not result in a Rockies run, Taylor’s most certainly did.

Turner’s error occurred in the bottom of the first inning on a hard-hit grounder by Rockies’ first baseman C.J. Cron – a play that Turner will insist he absolutely should have made. In fact, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said exactly that during his postgame Zoom presser.

“I think Justin would say he should have made it,” Roberts said. “It was hit hard. It was hit flat. Good piece of hitting. More times than not, JT will come up with that.”

Taylor’s error occurred in the bottom of the fifth inning on a routine pop-up to second base by Rockies center fielder Garrett Hampson and was, quite frankly, inexcusable, turning a 2-1 Dodgers lead into a 2-2 tie.

“Chris just lost it in the sun,” Roberts told reporters postgame.

Indeed he did.

The inexcusable part is that Taylor was wearing flip-up sunglasses, which, for reasons only he knows, he did not flip down in the brutally bright mile-high Denver sunlight – hence, that “lost it in the sun” thing.

Although there is certainly the possibility that Taylor may have dropped the ball even if he had used his flip-up sunglasses as intended, that seems rather unlikely for the 30-year-old Virginia Beach, VA native and 2021 All-Star.

When asked about his team’s two errors on Sunday, the Dodgers skipper was noticeably annoyed.

“We’ve just been inconsistent. I think that – pretty much been the season – it’s a … we got a really good ball club, but when you give teams extra outs, it’s sometimes tough to overcome,” Roberts answered.

As for that two blown saves thing, the first was by Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen who, despite Turner’s and Taylor’s miscues, entered the bottom of the ninth inning with his team up 4-3. That lead was short-lived when he gave up a leadoff double to Rockies’ third baseman Ryan McMahon, followed by a one-out run-scoring single by Rockies left fielder Chris Owings for his third blown save of the season. And then, in the top of the 10th inning with Albert Pujols as the automatic runner at second base, Dodgers right fielder Cody Bellinger walked. This was followed by a two-out RBI single by catcher Will Smith to give the Dodgers a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom of the 10th. Unfortunately, Dodgers right-hander Phil Bickford gave up a line out to Rockies second baseman Brendan Rodgers allowing automatic runner Garrett Hampson to take third. Hampson would then score on a sacrifice fly by Rockies shortstop Trevor Story to again tie the game, giving Bickford his second blown save of the season. The next batter, perennial Dodgers nemesis Charlie Blackmon, walked it off with a devastating home run to right/center field to give the Rockies the 6-5 win and Bickford his first loss of the season.

One can only hope that the Dodgers left their less-than-stellar play at Coors Field, as they open a crucial four-game series with the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants on Monday night at Dodger Stadium. And even though the Giants (fortunately) also lost on Sunday, they enter the four-game set with a 1.0-game lead over the Dodgers.

Best case scenario: On Friday morning, the Dodgers could find themselves in first place in the NL West with a 3-game lead over The Hated Ones.

Worst case scenario: Well … you get the picture.

Play Ball!

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