Send to Email Address Your Name Your Email Address Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Email check failed, please try again Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.<doc-sep>Happy Friday, sports fans! If you’re one of the tens of thousands who took the day off — or called in sick — to descend into LoDo for the Rockies’ home opener, here’s a nifty little guide on what you need to know. — Joe Nguyen, The Denver Post 💥 A special offer for Sports Omelette readers! Subscribe to The Denver Post’s sports coverage for just 99¢ for the first month and only $6.99/month thereafter. Cancel anytime. What’s on Tap? Rockies: Los Angeles Dodgers, 2:30 p.m. Friday, ATTRM | Buy tickets Los Angeles Dodgers, 2:30 p.m. Friday, ATTRM | Buy tickets Nuggets: Portland Trail Blazers, 8:30 p.m. Friday, ALT/ESPN | Buy tickets Portland Trail Blazers, 8:30 p.m. Friday, ALT/ESPN | Buy tickets Avalanche: At San Jose Sharks, 8:30 p.m. Saturday, ALT | Buy tickets TV/RADIO: Here’s what sports are airing today Check out our new and improved stats page. Scoreboard NHL: Avalanche 3, Jets 2 Full story | Box score Must-Read “We need the fans to back us up,” Arenado said. “I think the best teams have the best crowds, and teams feed off that.” Read more… Spurs coach ejected just 63 seconds into loss to Nuggets at the Pepsi Center, then spent 34 seconds crashing Malone’s postgame news conference. Read more… “Our first team meeting started at 8, but guys were in there at 7:55 in their seats,” Chubb said on Thursday. “I remember a couple times last year guys would be rolling in at 7:59. Just culture change like that. Everybody wants to be better than we were at 5-11 or 6-10.” Read more… Quick Hits + McGregor Square: Rockies’ mixed-use project in LoDo to bear name of team’s late president + Coors Field changes for 2019 season include enhanced fan interactive area, renovated home clubhouse + Nuggets close to making NBA history on short rest + Colorado’s Jennifer Kupcho heads to Augusta National with 1-shot lead + Isotopes’ Dom Nunez is the next up-and-coming catcher to watch in Rockies’ minor league pipeline + Rockies Insider: Colorado’s opening road trip reveals series of omens for 2019 season + JUCO guard Maddox Daniels commits to Colorado Buffaloes basketball + Yankees place SS Troy Tulowitzki on their expansive injured list Post Mailbag forms + Broncos Mailbag: Have a question about the team? Ask Ryan O’Halloran here. + Nuggets Mailbag: Have a question about the team? Ask Mike Singer here. + Avs Mailbag: Have a question about the team? Ask Mike Chambers here. + Rockies Mailbag: Have a question about the team? Ask Patrick Saunders here. By The Numbers $15 million Longmont’s David Bote, Cubs agree to 5-year, $15M deal covering 2020-24 Bote and the Chicago Cubs agreed to a $15 million, five-year contract covering 2020-24 on Wednesday, a deal with two team options that if exercised would increase its value to $28.6 million over seven seasons. Read more… Parting Shot Former NFL GM Bill Polian, one of the league’s co-founders, issued a statement Tuesday lamenting the decision to shut down operations, according to multiple reports. Read more… Get in Touch If you see something that’s cause for question or have a comment, thought or suggestion, email me at dboniface@denverpost.com or tweet me @danielboniface.<doc-sep>Shortly before first pitch Friday afternoon, the 120th Fighter Squadron from Buckley Air Force Base screamed over Coors Field in a stirring display of firepower. Taking their cue, the visiting Dodgers, launching home runs at a historic pace early this season, drubbed the Rockies, 10-6, spoiling the opening-day party for the 48,404 fans in attendance. All of the red-white-and-blue bunting, purple jerseys and party energy in LoDo couldn’t lift the Rockies above their early-season problems. Namely, an offense still trying to emerge from hibernation, and the ongoing struggles of left-handed starter Tyler Anderson, who’s clearly the weak link in the rotation. Yes, the Rockies’ offense showed signed signs of life late, but it was way too little and way too late in a game that droned on for 3 hours, 52 minutes. Boxscore “It’s good that we put up a little fight there at the end, and it’s good that we got the bats going, so it’s good for tomorrow,” said shortstop Trevor Story who hit two late home runs. “But you don’t want to lose like that.” RELATED: Rockies sign veteran southpaw Jorge De La Rosa to a minor league deal Colorado Rockies MLB scoreboard MLB standings Schedule Colorado Rockies stats Rockies Mailbag Ask mailbag questions A prime example of Colorado’s offensive woes arrived in the fifth inning when it loaded the bases against right-hander Kenta Maeda. Story strode to the plate with a chance to get his team back in the game. Instead, he struck out on three pitches, going down looking as Maeda’s slider caught the black. To Story’s credit, he rebounded to hit a two-run shot off right-hander Brock Stewart in the Rockies’ three-run seventh. He also blasted a two-out solo home run in the ninth. David Dahl also added a solo home run in the ninth, a 447-foot shot off Yimi Garcia. “It was a good to see a couple of good swings and it got a little better as the game progressed,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “We had some opportunities early and we got some walks against Maeda. He was sort of pitching on the fringes. We loaded the bases a couple of times and we just couldn’t break through.” The Rockies, who fell to 3-5, are hitting .209 and have five home runs this season, three by Story. The Dodgers, winners of six consecutive National League West titles, came into the game having hit 18 home runs. They added three more: A solo shot by Max Muncy off Anderson in the fourth; a back-breaking three-run blast by Cody Bellinger off Anderson in the fifth; and a solo homer by Russell Martin in the sixth off reliever Carlos Estevez. Bellinger’s six homers in the Dodgers’ first eight games set a franchise record and his 16 RBIs through eight games is also a franchise record. Colorado has now dropped six consecutive games to the Dodgers, who have a stranglehold on the National League West with six consecutive titles. Related Articles Rockies’ Josh Fuentes now, officially, Joshua Fuentes, thanks to hot streak Rockies-Mets game postponed; doubleheader scheduled for Thursday Rockies Mailbag: Colorado has no plans to trade Trevor Story prior to All-Star Game Kyle Freeland’s Rockies season debut spoiled in 3-1 loss at New York Mets Rockies’ Elias Diaz aiming to build on first home run of season Asked about the Dodgers’ formidable firepower, Story said: “They’re good. Obviously they have won the division the last few years. They have good leadership. But it’s not like we look over there and we’re like, ‘Oh man!’ We’re excited to play the best teams and we feel like we can win against anybody.” Anderson, whose 30 home runs surrendered last season tied him with Milwaukee’s Chase Anderson for the most in the NL, lasted four-plus innings, giving up six runs on nine hits. He fell to 0-2 and his ERA sits at 11.00. The fifth inning encapsulated Anderson’s woes. He walked leadoff hitter Kike Hernandez, gave up a single to Corey Seager and an RBI double to Justin Turner. Anderson, clearly going off the rails at that point, got a mound visit from pitching coach Steve Foster. It didn’t help. Bellinger ripped an 0-1, 90 mph fastball over the inside corner deep into the right-field seats to put the Dodgers ahead 6-1. “They have some guys that are really hot and they stayed hot,” Anderson said. “I think really the one (hit) that turns a day when you’re grinding into a bad day, was that Bellinger homer. That was a pretty good pitch that usually in the past he hasn’t gotten to. But he’s pretty locked in right now so he didn’t miss.” On Deck Dodgers RHP Walker Buehler (0-0, 15.00 ERA) vs. Rockies RHP Jon Gray (0-1, 4.05) 6:10 p.m. Saturday at Coors Field TV: ATT SportsNet Radio: 850 AM/94.1 The last time Buehler faced the Rockies, he mowed them down with six-plus innings of one-hit, shutout ball as the Dodgers clinched the division title in a tiebreaker game at Chavez Ravine. However, the 24-year-old was hit hard in his 2019 debut against Arizona, lasting only three innings while giving up five runs. Colorado is hitting .183 in 109 at-bats against him with four home runs, while Los Angeles is hitting .337 with five homers in 98 at-bats against Gray. Max Muncy and Joc Pederson have both taken Gray deep twice as the right-hander is coming off a decent season debut in which he allowed three runs in six-plus innings against the Marlins. Trending: Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda has been solid within the hitter-friendly confines of Coors Field, where he entered Friday with a 3.19 ERA in eight games (five starts). He continued that reliability at altitude Friday, yielding one run on four hits over five innings. At issue: Colorado takes on the Dodgers 18 more times this season, and as opening day as well as Los Angeles’ historic early home run pace has demonstrated, slugfests with the boys in blue are certainly not in Colorado’s best tactical interests. The Dodgers won last year’s season series 13-7. Upcoming pitching matchups Sunday: Dodgers LHP Julio Urias (0-0, 0.00) at Rockies RHP Chad Bettis (0-1, 9.53), 6:37 p.m., ESPN Monday: Braves RHP Julio Teheran (0-1, 3.60) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-1, 2.31), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM Tuesday: Braves TBD at Rockies RHP German Marquez (1-0, 0.69), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM<doc-sep>
DENVER, CO - APRIL 5: A general view of the field during the singing of the national anthem after player introductions before the home opener of the Colorado Rockies against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field on April 5, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) DENVER – The beauty of Opening Day is hope. Hope for the new, hope that this year will bring something better than the last and hope that once more the warm embrace of your summer friends returns. The Colorado Rockies retuned to LoDo on Friday and with them they brought hope. Hope that the club would reach new heights after two playoff bow-outs, hope that their new long-term franchise icon could be the first plaquered in New York and hope that this is finally the year that the Rockies best the Dodgers. Part of this beauty is that hope can never be extinguished on day one, but the Rockies certainly didn’t get off to the correct start. Thrashed 10-6 by the Dodgers, Colorado sent their sellout crowd home sad. “It’s always exciting, we’re glad to be home,” Arenado said pregame. “We have a game to win, it’s an important game but it’s a crazy environment at Coors Field as it should be. This should be an exciting season.” The last two seasons spell that this season may repeat in excitement but given the strengthening of the NL Central and East there’s more pressure on the Rockies to win the West. The team they’ll have to take it from is L.A. who has won the title six straight years and is off to a 6-2 start. In 2018, the Rockies went just 7-13 against the Dodgers. Had just one of those games flipped in favor of the Rockies, they would’ve won their first division title. While hope remains—as it should because no one game in baseball is too urgent during the regular season and the season is, obviously, barely underway—there is a sense that the Rockies need to do as much damage against the Dodgers as they can this year. The sentiment pregame around the clubhouse from the Rockies related to how much they hate the LA club and how they want to get them back after losing game 163 last year. The Rockies will have to wait for a revved up Jon Gray for revenge for tonight’s game.