Dodgers have a rocky start to the season

The Dodgers are officially off to a rocky start.

The Dodgers dropped two of three games to the Rockies in Colorado at Coors Field to start the season.

The Dodgers were supposed to have one of the best lineups ever assembled in the history of baseball. Instead of opening the season with an explosion of runs, the Dodgers struggled to score and hit in one of the most hitter-friendly parks in the league.

It was hard to watch.

The Dodgers scored 11 runs in the three games at Coors Field. That’s impressive enough, almost four runs a game. It’s not record-breaking, but should be enough to win games.

They also gave up 15 runs. 

Ouch!

The starting pitching for the Dodgers looks like it is going to be problematic.

Walker Buehler looked good on opening day. The Dodger pitching strategy worked out perfectly. Buehler for five innings. Four relievers closed out the game. Brusdar Graterol pitched a scoreless sixth inning. Blake Treinen pitched a perfect seventh inning. Daniel Hudson might have been the most impressive pitcher out of the bullpen, striking out the side in the eighth inning.

Closer Craig Kimbrel was the only reliever to have any problems. He gave up a run and made a 5-2 game interesting in the ninth inning.

Still, the Dodgers won, 5-3. Kimbrel settled down, got the final three outs of the game and the Dodgers looked like they had the perfect script for success moving forward.

Tony Gonsolin started the second game of the season. It was a bit of a surprise move. Julio Urias was supposed to be the No. 2 starter in the rotation. But Dave Roberts and the front office decided to give Gonsolin the ball in Game 2, and it didn’t go quite as planned.

He lasted only three innings, gave up a run on five hits, and the Dodgers struggled to give him any run support.

Connor Joe hit a tie-breaking home run off Treinen in the eighth inning and the Rockies won Game 2 of the series, 3-2. The Dodgers left five runners on base and were 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position. 

It wasn’t a horrible offensive performance, but the supposed best-hitting team in baseball has to do better than that.

In the series finale on Sunday, the Dodgers lost 9-4 and struggled at the plate again. They left seven runners on base and were 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Again, not good enough.

Urias started and struggled. He gave up six runs (three earned) on six hits in two innings. He left the game in the third inning by putting the Dodgers in a  6-0 hole. He walked two and gave up a two-run home run to CJ Cronn. 

It was not the best way to start the season.

But it’s not all bad. Chris Taylor is hitting .571 after three games and was 2-for-3 with an RBI in Sunday’s loss to the Rockies. Gavin Lux is hitting .375 after the first three games of the season. They were the No. 8 and 9 hitters in the lineup on Sunday, too.

Next up for the Dodgers (1-2) are the Minnesota Twins on the road on Tuesday for a two-game series  before heading home for a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday.