Alex Guerrero's Grand Slam Beats Rockies 9-8 in Ninth Inning

The Dodgers were down to their final strike. One pitch away from being swept in both games of a day/night doubleheader on Tuesday, and then, with one swing, it all changed…

Alex Guerrero hit a grand slam with two outs and two strikes in the top of the ninth, and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied to defeat the Rockies 9-8 in Game 2 of their doubleheader.

Guerrero's grand slam was perhaps the most dramatic moment of the year for any team in baseball. The ball was hit to dead center, where Colorado's Charlie Blackmon tracked it, timed his jump perfectly, but just missed catching the ball by an inch.

"I thought he had it," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said after the game. "I was just numb at that point."

Guerrero did not start the nightcap after playing in left field in the first game. He entered into the game in the eighth as part of a defensive switch, and the move worked brilliantly for the Boys in Blue.

"When I first hit, I didn't know if I hit it out, but the ball was carrying so I thought it had a chance," Guerrero said of his first career grand slam. "Any opportunity that I get, whether it's starting, coming off the bench, or pinch-hitting, I'm going to take advantage of that opportunity."

The Mile-High Magic was in the air on Tuesday evening as the two teams combined for 17 runs, 28 hits, 5 home runs, 3 ties, 3 lead changes and one very big blown save.

The Dodgers hit four of those five home runs in the second game, as LA's youth movement flipped the power switch in Coors Field. Guerrero, Joc Pederson, Kiké Hernandez and Adrian Gonzalez all homered in Game 2.

Hernandez started the power surge with a solo shot to start the game. The super utility player started the first game at shortstop, and moved to the other side of the infield to second base for Game 2.

Pederson homered in both games, he hit a mammoth blast in the matinee, and for an encore he crushed a 472-foot shot to deep center for his 16th long ball of the season, and his fourth home run in four games.

Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run blast to right-center in the top of third that gave the Dodgers a 4-0 lead.

Colorado came back in the bottom half of the inning. Zack Greinke gave up back-to-back singles to Nick Hundley and Brandon Barnes and the Rockies brought them home thanks to a sac fly by Blackmon and an RBI single by D.J. LeMahieu.

The Rockies rallied with two outs in the bottom of the sixth off Greinke. Ben Paulsen scored after a two-out triple by Hundley. One batter later, Barnes knocked in Hundley and Colorado completed the comeback with a 5-4 lead heading into the final few frames.

Pederson hit an RBI triple in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 5-to-5, but the lead would not last as the Rockies broke it open in the bottom half of the inning.

Troy Tulowitzki hit the go-ahead home run off Dodgers reliever Yimi Garcia in the bottom of the seventh to give the Rockies the lead at 8-5, but the three-run lead would not be enough as Rafael Betancourt blew the save on Guerrero's dramatic home run.

"He turned a down day into a good day with just one swing," Mattingly added. "Hopefully, that will give us some momentum going into tomorrow."

Josh Ravin (1-0) made his major league debut for the Dodgers with two outs in the bottom of the eighth and struck out LaMahieu to the end the inning. That strikeout would turn out to be all that was needed to give Ravin his first career victory in the big leagues and a freezing cold shower by his teammates after the game.

"They brought me in the shower and dumped freezing cold water on me," Ravin said shivering. "I'm going to sleep with the ball tonight. It really hasn't hit me yet, but this is a pretty cool feeling."

Betancourt allowed three consecutive singles to start the ninth, but struck out Justin Turner, and got Pederson to pop out before surrendering the game-winning bomb to Guerrero.

"I've seen Betancourt pitch over a hundred times in my career, and usually nobody hits him," Greinke said. "But with Guerrero coming up, that's as bad a hitter as it gets."

Los Angeles batted around in the ninth as the infamous rally banana made the trip to Colorado and appeared in the dugout during the final frame.

Kenley Jansen worked the bottom of the ninth striking out Paulsen to earn his fifth save of the season.

The game lasted nearly four hours in length making Greinke who started the game a distant memory by the time the last out was recorded. Greinke entered the game with a 1.48 ERA, good for the best in baseball, but allowed a season-high five runs on 10 hits in six innings as he saw his ERA jump to 1.97.

"Once guys got in scoring position I didn't do a good job of getting outs," Greinke said.

David Hale drew the start for Colorado surrendering three early homers before holding the Dodgers to four runs over six innings.

Game Notes:
The Rockies defeated the Dodgers 6-3 in the opening game of the doubleheader.

18 of the Dodgers 23 runs so far in this series have come by way of the long ball.

Pederson leads the majors with a 428-foot average per home run.

The Dodgers made a series of moves on Tuesday. Before Game 1, they placed Scott Van Slyke on the 15-day DL and recalled Chris Heisey who made the start in right field. The Dodgers then added Ian Thomas to the 26-man roster. Thomas appeared in relief in the first game.

After Game 1 ended, the Dodgers recalled Daniel Coulombe and Josh Ravin and optioned Austin Barnes who started behind the plate in Game 1 and designated David Huff who also appeared in relief in the first game for assignment.