DENVER — Julio Urias has pitched astir 100 innings much this twelvemonth than helium ever has successful a major-league season. And it mightiness beryllium starting to show.
The young left-hander showed decreased velocity connected his fastball for the 2nd consecutive commencement Tuesday night. Urias near with the crippled tied and it stayed that mode until Albert Pujols’ pinch-hit RBI azygous successful the 10th inning gave the Dodgers a 5-4 triumph implicit the Colorado Rockies astatine Coors Field.
The Dodgers started the nighttime 1 crippled down the rival San Francisco Giants successful the NL West, with the Giants playing the Padres successful San Diego.
Urias went six innings against the Rockies, retiring the archetypal 9 batters helium faced but past allowing 4 runs connected 7 hits successful the adjacent 3 innings, leaving with the people tied, 4-4, aft the sixth. It was lone the 2nd clip successful his past 15 starts Urias has allowed 4 runs. The different clip besides came astatine Coors Field connected July 16.
With 2 starts apt remaining successful his regular season, Urias (18-3) volition person to get wins successful some to go the National League’s archetypal 20-game victor since Max Scherzer did it for the Washington Nationals successful 2016.
Urias has present thrown 174-1/3 innings this season, eighth successful the National League. Treated arsenic a Faberge ovum for overmuch of his precocious career, the present 25-year-old threw a full of 78 innings past season, regular play and postseason combined, and a career-high of conscionable 79-2/3 during the 2019 regular season.
But this season, the Dodgers’ assorted issues successful the starting rotation person forced them to thin overmuch much heavy connected Urias than they mightiness person planned.
“I’d accidental 20 percent much than I expected. Just successful its entirety – the performance, the quantity,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said implicit the play erstwhile asked however overmuch much Urias had fixed them than anticipated this season. “Just an arbitrary fig I would accidental 20 percent more. In his eyes, possibly helium hasn’t exceeded it. And we’ve needed each spot of it.”
But Urias is starting to suffer his fastball. It averaged 92.88 mph successful his commencement against the Arizona Diamondbacks past week (down from a play mean of 94.1 mph) and it dipped adjacent further against the Rockies. He averaged conscionable 92.4 mph connected 35 four-seam fastballs Tuesday nighttime and got conscionable 3 swing-and-misses connected the pitch.
The Rockies got to him for 2 runs successful the 4th inning connected back-to-back two-out doubles by Charlie Blackmon (a 107.6 mph rocket disconnected the partition successful right-center field) and C.J. Cron (a much sedate grounder down the close tract line).
Urias worked astir a leadoff treble by Ryan McMahon successful the 5th past ran into two-out occupation again successful the sixth. Cron doubled successful different tally past scored erstwhile Elias Diaz dropped a bloop treble into shallow near field. Gavin Lux covered crushed to marque a diving effort and had it successful his mitt concisely for what would person been a spectacular drawback but helium couldn’t clasp on.
The Dodgers gave Urias a 4-2 pb helium couldn’t clasp either. They scored doubly successful the 5th inning connected 4 consecutive two-out singles (including 1 by Urias to thrust successful a run) and again successful the 5th connected a leadoff azygous by Trea Turner, an RBI treble by Max Muncy and a sacrifice alert by Will Smith.
The Dodgers’ discourtesy went acold aft that. They had conscionable 2 much hits aft Muncy’s treble but 1 of them was a crushed shot done the mediate by Pujols to thrust successful the ‘free runner’ successful the 10th.
Brusdar Graterol and Alex Vesia combined to strand the Rockies’ ‘free runner’ successful the 10th, closing retired the Dodgers’ 5th triumph successful 18 extra-inning games this season.
More to travel connected this story.