LOS ANGELESLOS ANGELES— Kevin Kouzmanoff’s latest stop on his major league journey might last longer than the others, if he has anything to say about it.
The six-year veteran drove in his first four runs since joining the Colorado Rockies this week, helping stake Jhoulys Chacin to a five-run lead on Sunday before manager Jim Tracy used five relievers to hold off the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6.
The Rockies got Kouzmanoff from Oakland on Tuesday for either a player to be named or cash. He had been at Triple-A Sacramento since being demoted on June 6.
“The guy’s here for a reason, and it’s great to have a guy like him coming to the club and helping us,” right fielder Carlos Gonzalez said. “He’s making a lot of good plays at third base and starting a lot of double plays. He’s not trying to be a super hero. That’s not what we’re looking for. He just needs to play his game.”
Kouzmanoff blooped a three-run double in front of reserve right fielder Trent Oeltjen in the first inning as Colorado took a 5-0 lead. He later singled home a run and tied a career high for RBIs in a game.
“It definitely feels good to contribute, and I want to do that any way I can,” said Kouzmanoff, who had a career-high 88 RBIs in 2009 with San Diego. “It’s all about producing and doing my part to help the team win. Fortunately I had guys on base today, and the double got us off to a head start. This is a great opportunity for me and I’m excited about it. We’ve got a great group of guys here.”
Chacin (11-10) gave up four runs, six hits and five walks in five-plus innings. The right-hander departed with a 7-2 lead after walking the first three batters in the sixth, raising his season total to 78 – the most in the NL.
“I didn’t even know that, but he’s still a pretty good pitcher,” the Dodgers’ Matt Kemp said. “You have to be patient against those guys, work the count and try to get good pitches to hit. We did a pretty good job today, but we just came up short.”
Despite Colorado’s victory, which ended the Dodgers’ five-game winning streak, Tracy didn’t hold anything back in his critique of Chacin’s chronic control problems.
“The hurdle that we have to get Jhoulys over, is that ball four continues to haunt him,” Tracy said. “You walk the bases loaded in the sixth inning when you’re ahead 7-2, and we have a chance to get beaten again today. Not only does it put the game in jeopardy, but it runs him out of the game a helluva lot sooner than I wanted to take him out – because his pitch count went through the roof.”
This was the sixth time this season that Chacin walked five or more, including a career-worst seven on July 21 against Atlanta. Last year, he had 61 walks in 137 1-3 innings and was 9-11 with a 3.28 ERA.
“It’s a mechanical thing,” Tracy said. “More than likely, it’s his head position. And it’s something we have worked on and will continue to work on. But to sit here and sat that it’s been completely grasped at this time, I’d say the answer to that question is still `Not yet.’ That’s where we’re at. We’ve got to get him over that hurdle.”
Eugenio Velez, still hitless in 28 official at-bats with the Dodgers, drove in his first run with his new team on a grounder. Tony Gwynn Jr. followed with a sacrifice fly that made it 7-4. But rookie Justin Sellers struck out against Matt Belisle, who came in having allowed 32 earned runs in 33 2-3 career innings against the Dodgers.
Los Angeles closed to 7-6 in the seventh against Matt Lindstrom with Aaron Miles’ RBI double and a run-scoring single by Oeltjen. But Rex Brothers pitched a perfect eighth inning and Rafael Betancourt bounced back from Saturday’s blown save, getting three outs to record his fourth in eight chances.
Betancourt had to face James Loney for the second day in a row, after giving up a tying home run to him with two outs in the ninth Saturday before the Dodgers won on Kemp’s walkoff homer in the 11th. This time, Loney struck out.
“With the exception of one pitch that Rafael Betancourt threw yesterday – that is probably the only mislocated pitch that he’s probably made in the last five weeks. That’s how good he’s been,” Tracy said.
Nathan Eovaldi (1-2) gave up five runs and six hits over four innings in his fifth big league start. The 21-year-old right-hander threw 41 of his 89 pitches in the first. Troy Tulowitzki and Eliezer Alfonzo sandwiched RBI singles around Kouzmanoff’s double in the first.
Gonzalez, who got three hits and extended his hitting streak to 15 games, made a spectacular diving catch on Sellers’ sinking drive down the line in the fourth with two outs and runners at the corners.
“He’s a guy who tries to hit the other way,” Gonzalez said. “I remember the first time we played against him at home, and he hit like five or six balls to right field. So I was prepared for that one. The Dodgers have been tough against us and they’re a really good team. For some reason, they play really well against us. But not today. We’re really happy we got the win.”
NOTES: Even if the Dodgers maintain their average attendance of 36,911 through the final 13 home games, they would fail to reach the 3 million mark at Chavez Ravine for the first time in a non-strike season since 1992. That year, they finished last in a six-team NL West with a 63-99 record – which remains the franchise’s losingest season since 1908 (53-101). … The Rockies improved their record on Sundays to 4-17. All of the losses were consecutive before the drought ended last week against the Dodgers with a 5-3 win at Coors Field. … Gonzalez’s club-record RBI streak ended at 11 games. … Alfonzo did not have an RBI in his 39 previous career at-bats at Dodger Stadium until his first-inning hit. … The five runs against Eovaldi equaled the total he gave up in 22 innings over his first four starts. … Rockies INF Eric Young Jr., whose father spent parts of four seasons with the Dodgers, struck out as a pinch-hitter and has no RBIs in 48 career at-bats at Dodger Stadium.
