Dodgers 6, Rockies 1 (boxscore)
Let's just cut to the chase.
Were the two balks called in the 7th inning legitimate?
To the letter of the law, yes they were. Any type of flinch, movement, awkwardness is going to be called. Meant or not, those are all in some way or another a method of deceiving the runner
However, when left open for interpretation by the umpires, you'd hope they would be smart enough to understand Esmil Rogers had no intention whatsoever to deceive a baserunner (no chance in Hell with Bob Davidson). The baserunner was actually deceiving Rogers, which is perfectly within the rules, but what a pain in the ass for a pitcher to have to divide his attention like that. I guess that's his problem for loading the bases.
It's also Rogers' problem for not staying composed and finishing the inning. He got beat by Justin freaking Sellers. That can't happen.
But up to that point he had his best outing of the season by a country mile, so hats off for that.
The Matt Reynolds balk was an easy call. No problems there.
Did you realize the Dodgers scored six runs in only eight pitches that inning? The two balks occurred during that span, as did home runs by James Loney and Matt Kemp.
The Rockies offense mustered only one hit on five runs, which is again why they lost a road game and why they remain irrelevant in the standings.
Final thought
Long day. Longer night. Hopefully we have something positive to write about baseball wise on Saturday. But most importantly, I'm hoping and praying for the best for those who will be effected by Hurricane Irene. Any east coast readers... stay safe!
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