LOS ANGELES — Following every Dodgers victory, Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” blasts out of the Star Wars Death Star speaker in center field.
By now, that song is surely haunting the Rockies’ dreams.
The Dodgers, powered by the sizzling bat of right fielder Joc Pederson, clubbed the Rockies again Wednesday night. The final was 7-3, meaning that Colorado has not won a game at Dodger Stadium since June 30, 2018, an 11-game losing streak that ranks as its longest drought at Chavez Ravine in franchise history.
“It’s really frustrating, but it is what it is. There’s really not much else to say,” third baseman Nolan Arenado said. “We just have to go out and do the best we can. There is no finger-pointing, but for us, as a group, it’s not good. We are losing a lot of games.
“But we still have a job to do and we still want to go out there and play the game hard and play the right way.”
The Rockies’ offense was AWOL and their starting pitching once again failed to show up as their losing streak reached a season-high nine games. It’s Colorado’s longest skid since the 2015 season. During the current slide, Colorado starters have a 12.00 ERA.
Monday night, Pederson hit 3-for-3 with two home runs and a double that missed being a home run by inches. Wednesday night, Pederson led off with a home run off Antonio Senzatela, drew a walk in the third and then mashed a two-run homer in the fourth off Wes Parsons. Pederson’s hot streak: four home runs, a double and seven RBIs in five plate appearances.
Before the game, Rockies manager Bud Black said he wanted to see Senzatela “regain the consistency of a good start.”
“I just want to feel good about his start … keep us in the game,” Black continued. “Throw pitches in the sixth or seventh inning, whatever that might be. That’s the challenge for Antonio.”
It didn’t work out that way. Senzatela lasted only three innings, giving up five runs on four hits. To be fair, save for Pederson’s leadoff homer, the Dodgers hit hard grounders that snaked into the outfield.
“We were down 5-0 and we had two guys on base,” Black said after the game, explaining why he pulled Senzatela. “With an extending pitching staff, I thought we could work our way through the game, especially with a day off tomorrow.”
Senzatela also was hurt by a mental error by his infield in the fourth. Arenado, shifted into the hole at short, hesitated before making a throw on Justin Turner’s grounder. Instead of throwing home — catcher Drew Butera was not covering the plate — or trying to start a double play, Arenado threw late to first base.
“I told myself before the play that if he hits it (softly) I’m going to go home with it,” Arenado said. “He hit it soft and I thought I still had a play at home. I can see why Drew vacated because he thought there was no play at home.
“But then I saw the play again and I thought I could have gone for the double play. … But there are only so many runs we can give up. … It didn’t work out.”
Senzatela has allowed five or more runs in a franchise-record seven consecutive games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He is also the first big-league pitcher to give up five or more runs in seven straight games since 2011 (Baltimore’s Brian Matusz, Houston’s J.A. Happ).
Senzatela, however, found some good things from Wednesday’s start.
“I feel pretty good and I made some pretty good pitches, but they found some holes,” he said. “It was bad luck today. Every time I go out there, I think in my mind, ‘OK, this is the day I’m going to end that (streak).’ ”
Colorado failed to win despite another poor performance by L.A. lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu, an early Cy Young Award candidate who’s slumped of late. Ryu lasted just 4 ⅓ innings and the Rockies raked him for three runs on six hits and drew four walks.
Colorado’s key hits off Ryu were an RBI double by Ryan McMahon and an RBI single by Butera in the fourth, and a run-scoring single by Ian Desmond in the fifth.
Los Angeles’ bullpen shut down the Rockies the rest of the way.
