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Dodgers blow past Rockies to win series

Jul 7, 2014 - 3:42 AM Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Kemp had four hits and drove in two runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers rolled to an 8-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday in the finale of a four-game series.

Juan Uribe added three hits with an RBI and Adrian Gonzalez knocked in three runs for the Dodgers, who won three of four in the series to improve to 14-6 in their last 20 games.

Troy Tulowitzki returned from a two-game absence because of tightness in groin to go 1-for-3 with two runs scored for the Rockies, who have dropped six of their last seven.

Tulowitzki was announced Sunday as the top National League vote-getter for next week's All-Star Game.

"Rightfully so with the first half he's put together," said Rockies manager Walt Weiss.

Josh Beckett (6-5) threw five scoreless innings for the Dodgers, earning the win after giving up three hits and three walks with two strikeouts.

"Our pitching is our strength," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. "It's really what is going to get us where we want to go."

Colorado's Yohan Flande (0-2) will have to wait at least one more start to earn his first major-league win. The left-hander was charged with five runs on nine hits and two walks over 4 1/3 innings in his third career start.

Double plays got both starting pitchers out of potential jams in the second inning. A double steal in the third put runners at second and third for the Rockies, but Justin Morneau grounded out to end the inning.

The Dodgers finally broke through with a five-run fifth inning, scoring the first two runs on the game's 11th hit, Gonzalez's bases-loaded single to center field.

Kemp followed with an RBI single, also to center, to make it 3-0 and Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly won a challenge for the fourth run, correctly arguing that Gonzalez beat a tag at the plate after Uribe's bouncer up the third-base line and Nolan Arenado's throw home.

Uribe was the first batter to face right-hander Brooks Brown, who made his MLB debut at the age of 29 in relief of Flande. Brown hit Miguel Rojas with two outs to force in the fifth run.

Chris Perez relieved Beckett and gave up consecutive singles to Tulowitzki and Morneau in the sixth. Tulowitzki scored from second after shortstop Carlos Triunfel's low throw to first trying to turn a double play got away.

The Dodgers tacked on three runs in the eighth inning -- two on RBI hits by Yasiel Puig, who doubled, and Kemp, who singled -- and Tulowitzki scored the last Rockies run in the eighth after drawing a leadoff walk.

Game Notes

Puig was voted onto the NL team as a starter in the outfield. Dodgers pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke and second baseman Dee Gordon were also named to the team, as was Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon ... The Dodgers will finish a six-game road trip with two games in Detroit on Tuesday and Wednesday ... The Rockies continue a 10-game homestand with a three-game series against the Padres starting Monday.