LOS ANGELES — What does a $270 million payroll buy? The Los Angeles Dodgers used their major league-record salary budget to get Brandon McCarthy.
In baseball, that big bankroll separates the haves and have-nots — not in superstar talent, but in difference-making depth. McCarthy, a journeyman right-hander from Cheyenne Mountain High in Colorado Springs, is pitching for his sixth big-league franchise. He is the Dodgers’ No. 4 starter.
McCarthy, 31, would have fit well with the Rockies. But the Dodgers offered a little more money than every other team could spend and signed him to a four-year, $48 million contract, including a $6 million signing bonus. The Rockies’ No. 4 starter, Eddie Butler, makes the big-league minimum: $509,000.
Sunday, McCarthy faced off with Butler at Dodger Stadium and showed why he’s worth the big bucks. He pitched six shutout innings and escaped trouble against the Rockies’ best batters, leading the Dodgers to a 7-0 victory and a three-game series sweep.
“He was a lot better,” Troy Tulowitzki said of McCarthy. “Take a look at his velocity when we faced him last year in Arizona. He was 90, 91 (mph). Today he was 95. He’s a completely different pitcher.”
The first-place Dodgers (9-3) have won nine consecutive games against the Rockies (7-5) in Los Angeles dating to last season. The Rockies finished their six-game road trip 3-3 after sweeping the Giants in San Francisco, then crashing back to earth at Dodger Stadium. The Rockies were shut out for the first time this season.
Rockies Mailbag: Pose a question for Patrick Saunders
“We knew we had our hands full,” Tulowitzki said. “At the same time, we’re a confident bunch. It just didn’t work out.”
Between a Nolan Arenado single in the second inning and a Charlie Blackmon single in the sixth, McCarthy retired 11-of-12 hitters. The Rockies didn’t get past first base until the sixth inning when pinch-hitting Rafael Ynoa walked, then hustled to third on Blackmon’s single. But he didn’t score.
McCarthy struck out six and walked only two. In three games this season, he has 25 strikeouts and just three walks.
Butler may pitch from the top of the Rockies’ rotation someday. But six games into his career, he’s less than steady. In three games this season, he has 10 strikeouts and 11 walks. Sunday, the 24-year-old allowed six hits in five innings, finishing with four strikeouts and a walk. He forced red-hot Dodgers star Adrian Gonzalez to foul out in the fifth with the bases loaded.
But the two runs Butler allowed in the second — on back-to-back RBI doubles from Scott Van Slyke and Joc Pederson — put the Rockies in too deep a deficit.
“They put some good swings on it,” Butler said. “They’re swinging it well right now.”
The Rockies had an opportunity to rally in the sixth against Mc- Carthy. With runners on first and third and the boppers at bat, Carlos Gonzalez popped up to short and Tulowitzki’s grounder to McCarthy turned into a threat-killing double play.
“We had our opportunity there,” Tulowitzki said. “That was really our only chance.”
The Dodgers took advantage in the sixth. Against reliever Scott Oberg, they busted out with home runs from Howie Kendrick, Van Slyke and Pederson. The Dodgers scored five in the frame. Christian Bergman came in with one out and pitched the rest of the game.
The Rockies return to Coors Field for a seven-game homestand against the Padres and Giants that starts Monday.
“Reality is, we didn’t play well enough to win a series here (in Los Angeles),” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “We have to play better than we did. You have to play tight, clean games against these guys.”
Nick Groke: ngroke@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nickgroke
