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Meanwhile, back to the baseball, Dodgers fall 7-5 to Rockies

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Seems the Dodgers can’t even muster a proper send-off.

On a day when managers were coming and going, and the owner was dodging bullets from a former owner, they still had a game to play.

An actually significant game, for the Colorado Rockies.

Alas, the Dodgers continued to play the role of patsy, with Colorado rolling to a 7-5 victory Friday night to hand them their third consecutive defeat.

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These days five runs qualifies as an offensive outpouring for the Dodgers, yet still they lost.

On a night when both the Giants and Padres were losing, the victory made the Rockies the day’s big winners. Although in third place in the National League West, the Rockies pulled to within 1½ games of the first-place Giants.

Maybe it just seems like every team in the NL West is in the race but L.A.

After the Dodgers announced earlier in the day a passing of the managerial torch from Joe Torre to Don Mattingly next season, they went out in the first inning and immediately fell behind 2-0.

Hiroki Kuroda had an uneven night, looking brilliant in some innings, and struggling mightily in others.

An error by shortstop Rafael Furcal in the first preceeded a two-run homer by Troy Tulowitzki.

The Dodgers, however, rallied to tie the score in the second against Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez. Jay Gibbons singled and scored on a Matt Kemp triple. Rookie A.J. Ellis lined a hit to center to score Kemp.

After Kuroda had struck out five of the last six Colorado batters, the Rockies went back on top to stay in the fourth. Melvin Mora, Seth Smith and Miguel Olivo all collected run-scoring singles.

The Dodgers got one back in the bottom of the inning on Ellis’ run-scoring single and one more in the fifth on a hit batter, a walk and a pair of groundouts, to pull to within 5-4.

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Kuroda (10-13) went six innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on seven hits. His only walk was intentional and he struck out seven.

The Rockies added a pair of insurance runs against still-struggling Jonathan Broxton in the seventh. Broxton walked three (one intentionally) and gave up run-scoring singles to Todd Helton and Mora.

The Dodgers missed their last chance to get back in the game when they loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, but Casey Blake struck out and Kemp bounced out to second.

The Dodgers added a final run in the ninth when Blake singled in Andre Ethier with two outs, but Kemp struck out with the tying runs on base.

Jimenez (19-6) went 6 1/3 so-so innings, giving up the four runs on six hits and three walks. He struck out six.

The Rockies have now won 12 of their last 14 games.

-- Steve Dilbeck

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