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Dodgers, Carlos Frias rocked early by Rockies in 16-2 loss

Dodgers starter Carlos Frias delivers a pitch in the first inning of a 16-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday. Frias gave up eight earned runs in less than an inning of work.
(Doug Pensinger / Getty Images)
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So it’s come to this: With the Dodgers’ division lead about to be reduced to two games Wednesday afternoon, Manager Don Mattingly acknowledged the possibility of a bullpen game in the coming week.

“We’ve talked about it,” Mattingly said.

Under that scenario, a reliever such as J.P. Howell or Paco Rodriguez would start the game, followed by a parade of pitchers out of the bullpen.

This generally isn’t how championships are won, but the Dodgers might not have a better option in the wake of a 16-2 defeat by the Colorado Rockies.

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On the 18th anniversary of the greatest pitching performance in the history of Coors Field, rookie Carlos Frias delivered one of the worst of all time in any stadium.

What Frias did was the complete antithesis of Hideo Nomo’s no-hitter here in 1996.

Starting in place of a sidelined Hyun-Jin Ryu, Frias made unwanted history by becoming the first pitcher in baseball’s modern era to give up 10 hits without recording three outs.

He lasted only two-thirds of an inning and was charged with eight runs.

The meltdown marked the end of a poorly pitched series for the Dodgers, who opted not to trade their top prospects for a front-line starter such as David Price or Jon Lester. Roberto Hernandez lasted only 3 2/3 innings in the series opener; Dan Haren was charged with five runs in five innings in the second game.

Unless Ryu returns sooner than expected from a shoulder injury, Frias’ next turn in the rotation would be on Monday. That’s the day the Dodgers open a three-game series at Dodger Stadium against the second-place San Francisco Giants, who have made up two games on them in the last two days.

Outside of Ryu, there are no attractive alternatives to replace Frias in the rotation. The only reliever capable of starting would be Kevin Correia, who pitched three innings Wednesday and was charged with six runs (five earned) and seven hits.

Correia hasn’t started a game in three weeks, but his 16 losses are second-most in the major leagues. He started three games for the Dodgers after they acquired him last month from the Minnesota Twins; he posted a 10.13 earned-run average in his last two starts, which lasted a combined eight innings.

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“You only have X amount of starters,” Mattingly said.

Hence, the possibility of a bullpen game.

Mattingly wouldn’t say when that could happen.

But rather than start Howell or Rodriguez against the Giants on Monday, the Dodgers could do so a day earlier against the last-place Chicago Cubs in the final game of a four-game series at Wrigley Field.

That would allow Haren to face the Giants on Monday with an extra day of rest.

The other option would be to make no changes to the rotation and start Frias again.

If anything, the hard-throwing Frias doesn’t appear to lack confidence.

The day before making his historically awful start, Frias minimized the differences between the major leagues and triple A, where he spent most of this season.

While saying he was encountering more patient hitters in the majors, he sounded confident he could get results, provided he threw strikes.

He said he wasn’t concerned about pitching in Coors Field, a notorious hitter’s park. He pointed to how he pitched in high altitude with triple-A Albuquerque, saying in Spanish, “I don’t think it will be any worse.”

Well, it was.

He started the game by giving up singles to Charlie Blackmon and Josh Rutledge. He followed that up by serving up a three-run home run to Justin Morneau.

Michael Cuddyer hit a ground-rule double and advanced to third on a single by Corey Dickerson.

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That was only the beginning.

Frias departed from the game with two outs, the bases loaded and the Dodgers trailing, 6-0.

He was replacing by Scott Elbert, who promptly gave up a two-run single to Morneau.

“I don’t know what happened,” Frias said. “It was a bad day.”

Pointing to how self-assured Frias appears, Mattingly was hopeful the rookie could psychologically recover from the mauling.

“You hope he’s tough enough,” Mattingly said. “His next time out on the mound will be a test for him. It will tell us a lot about him.”

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