Rockies 7, Dodgers 6
DENVER -- After a bitter loss Tuesday night, the Colorado Rockies insisted the defeat would not linger and produce any carryover effect.
True to their word, the Rockies rallied for three runs in the ninth inning Wednesday to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6 and split a four-game series.
Third baseman Nolan Arenado hit a sacrifice fly that gave the Rockies a walk-off win.
The Dodgers were one strike away from defeat Tuesday night when Alex Guerrero hit a grand slam, lifting Los Angeles to a 9-8 win.
After setting the Rockies down in order in the eighth, Los Angeles reliever Adam Liberatore gave up a leadoff single in the ninth to pinch hitter Michael McKenry and a ground-rule double to center fielder Charlie Blackmon, his fourth hit of the game.
Yimi Garcia (2-2) relieved Liberatore and walked second baseman DJ LeMahieu to load the bases, then walked Troy Tulowitzki to force in a run that made it 6-5.
Catcher Yasmani Grandal was unable to handle left-hander J.P. Howell's first pitch to right fielder Carlos Gonzalez, and the passed ball tied the game at 6. Howell intentionally walked Gonzalez.
Right-hander Chris Hatcher came on to face Arenado, whose game-winning fly to left sailed over the five-man infield the Dodgers employed.
The Dodgers didn't do much against Chad Bettis, but once the Colorado starter's pitch count forced him from the game, Los Angeles quickly mounted a three-run rally in the seventh to go ahead 5-4.
Center fielder Joc Pederson's 17th homer in the eighth made it 6-4, with the rookie going deep for the fifth game in a row.
Rockies closer John Axford (1-0) pitched the ninth, stranding a runner at third and setting the stage for Colorado's turnabout-is-fair-play drama in the bottom of the inning.
Tulowitzki hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning and finished with five RBIs. Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon went 4-for-5 and scored three runs.
Pederson, third baseman Justin Turner, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and Grandal had two hits apiece for Los Angeles.
NOTES: There was a 16-minute rain delay in the top of the second. The start of the game was delayed 2 hours, 10 minutes by rain. ... Rockies RHP Jordan Lyles will undergo season-ending surgery next Wednesday to repair the medial collateral ligament and the capsule in his left big toe. ... Rockies RHP LaTroy Hawkins (right biceps tendinitis) will begin a rehab assignment Thursday at Triple-A Albuquerque and throw 25-30 pitches. He is also scheduled to pitch Sunday for Albuquerque at Salt Lake. ... Dodgers RF Yasiel Puig (left hamstring strain) will begin a rehab assignment Thursday with High Class A Rancho Cucamonga at Lancaster and barring a setback could rejoin the Dodgers sometime next week. ... According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Dodgers OF Alex Guerrero hit the first grand slam in franchise history Tuesday when the Dodgers were trailing by exactly three runs in the ninth inning or later.