Rockies’ Carlos Gonzalez hits walk-off homer to beat Dodgers

DJ LeMahieu hit a grounder that Alex Guerrero charged in from third base to field, but instead of throwing home for the sure out to prevent the run (and still leave open the possibility of a 5-2-3 double play) Guerrero inexplicably threw back across his body to second base, with a throw poor enough that second baseman Howie Kendrick couldn’t turn the double play.

If they win and the San Francisco Giants lose at Oakland, the Dodgers will claim the NL West for the third straight year and reach the postseason for the third year in a row for the first time in franchise history.

The Colorado Rockies did their part Sunday to keep the Los Angeles Dodgers from celebrating a division title, completing a three-game series sweep with a 12-5 victory.

The Dodgers send lefty Brett Anderson to the mound, who allowed 10 hits, two homers and five runs in 4 2/3 innings in his last stint against Arizona. Gonzalez improved his homer total to 38, one behind Arenado for the team lead.

“I’m not blaming [struggles] on that at all, but it’s nice to have that as second nature”, said Hale, who concentrated on pushing his momentum toward the plate rather than rotationally.

Manager Don Mattingly and ace Clayton Kershaw were fine after their public spat in the dugout when the manager pulled the left-hander from Thursday’s game. Crawford got credit for a single, but he was tagged out after rounding first, never thinking that Arenado would have the wherewithal to make the play and throw behind him. “I don’t like the fact we lost three straight games”. The three-run home run moved the Rockies in front, 6-4. With two on and two outs, Crawford grounded out to end the inning. I didn’t set my feet, and I should’ve made a better play. Starting pitcher Bret Anderson allowed 10 hits and six runs while striking out one over 4.0 innings to not factor in the decision as Yimi Garcia took the loss. “It is more special to me because of the way I started the year”.

“I had a feeling he was going to round the bag hard”, Arenado said. We’ve got a couple good guys pitching the next two nights.

Charlie Blackmon led off with a single to center field past diving second baseman Chase Utley. A run scored and the Rockies now were down only 4-3. Andre Ethier (.293, 51 Rs, 13 HRs, 45 RBIs, 2 SBs) went 1 for 3 yesterday with one run. Usually big innings come here and you just got to take advantage.

According to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, citing the Dodgers’ official Twitter account, Gonzalez was a late scratch from the Dodgers lineup against the Colorado Rockies as he battles a sore back. Unless things go very well for them Sunday, they won’t need a scoreboard to know when they’ve locked things up over the next four days. He has been on the disabled list since August 31…. After LeMahieu struck out, Nolan Arenado notched his fifth RBI of the game with a single.

Bolsinger said he is merely trying to finish the regular season strong.

Those 126 RBIs are the most by a Rockies players since Matt Holliday drove in 137 runs in 2007.