Brent W. New 10y

Rapid Reaction: Dodgers 8, Rockies 2

DENVER -- The Los Angeles Dodgers weren’t hitting the long ball through the thin air of Coors Field, merely exhausting the opposing pitcher with single after single.

L.A. piled together 12 singles and two doubles on a toasty, then overcast afternoon in Colorado. It scored five runs in the fifth inning and three more in the eighth. And starter Josh Beckett (6-5, 2.26 ERA) went five scoreless innings to fuel the Dodgers to the 8-2 win over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

How it happened: Beckett was solid, not great. And the offense was a constant pest for the Rockies.

For the second consecutive game, the Dodgers put up a five-spot in one inning against Colorado’s young and unimpressive pitching staff -- albeit this one ending on a better note than Saturday, when they scored five in the seventh and still lost 8-7.

Beckett led the charge in the fifth with a one-out double down the right field line -- tying his career high with three doubles in a season -- and was later brought in by Adrian Gonzalez’s two-run single. Eventually the Dodgers’ bats chased out the Rockies starter Yohan Flande, then Matt Kemp, Juan Uribe and Miguel Rojas drove in three other more to close the fifth.

Hits: Each one of his hits had to feel that much better for Kemp. He broke an 0-for-18 slide when clubbed four sharply-hit singles in Sunday’s affair. Kemp eventually finished the day 4-for-5, improving his average from .259 to .268.

The last thing the Dodgers want to see is Kemp’s bat to disappear again, unless it’s because of a trade. The left fielder hit .317 and the Dodgers went 18-10 in June following a two-month stretch where Kemp hit a middling.248.

Misses: Rojas left the game in seventh inning with what was described as a right forearm contusion. X-rays were negative, but he’s listed day-to-day.

With Hanley Ramirez on limited playing duty and Erisbel Arruebarrena on the 15-day disabled list, we’ll probably be seeing quite a bit of Carlos Triunfel, who was called to Colorado late Saturday night.

Stat of the game: The last time Beckett walked more than two batters in a game was when he threw a no-hitter to beat the Philadelphia Phillies. So, it certainly can’t be too much of a worry that the 34-year-old gave free passes to a trio of batters on Sunday.

It did, however, effectively end a streak of 39 consecutive games during which the Dodgers did not walk more than two batters. The streak was the longest in the modern era.

L.A. walked six on the day.

Up next: In their last pair of road games before the All-Star break, the Dodgers will head to Detroit to face the top of the AL Central in the Tigers. Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-4, 3.04) will square off against Justin Verlander (7-7, 4.71) on Tuesday, before NL All-Star Zack Greinke (11-4, 2.66) opposes AL All-Star Max Scherzer (10-3, 3.47) the following day. Greinke and Scherzer were announced as part of their respective All-Star teams Sunday evening.

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