A Very Rocky Weaver Outing

Jeff Weaver had never pitched at Coors Field. He wishes that were still the case.

The Dodger right-hander threw everything but the sink at the Colorado Rockies on Friday night. And that was the problem. Weaver lives and dies with his sinker, and the thin mile-high air straightened his pitches as neatly as an iron.

He gave up 13 hits and eight runs while recording only 12 outs in a 9-1 Dodger loss that seemed to suck away any remnant of momentum left from the eight-game winning streak and series of comebacks that had made the Dodgers the talk of baseball.

Weaver might prepare for his next outing at Colorado by studying Jason Jennings. The Rocky right-hander was clearly comfy at Coors, scattering 10 hits in notching his third career complete game.

Jennings (1-2), also a sinkerball specialist, has learned to adjust to his home park -- and to pitching against the Dodgers. He is 24-14 here -- tying Pedro Astacio for the most victories -- and in 12 starts against the Dodgers has never gone fewer than six innings and never given up more than four runs.

In contrast to Weaver, there was nothing rinky-dink about the sink on his pitches, and he couldn’t point to a reason.

“My sinker was really good,” Jennings said. “It’s hard to explain. It happens every once in a while.”

Weaver (2-1) was unfamiliar with his opponent as well as the surroundings -- he had pitched against every major league team except the Rockies and Dodgers. He didn’t like what he learned, giving up at least one hit to everyone in the lineup, including five doubles, a triple and a home run.

He was amazed at how far balls flew.

“I made a good pitch, low and away, and a guy hits a home run 10 rows deep,” he said of an opposite-field blast by Brad Hawpe in the third inning.

“About four times I thought balls were possible fly outs and they hit the wall. Colorado is what it is.”

And the fast Dodger start isn’t what it was.

They have lost two in a row after opening this seven-game, three-city trip with three victories. The team arrived at their hotel at 4 a.m. after losing to the Padres on Thursday night, but no one was pointing to the lack of sleep as an excuse.

“Periodically you have to deal with that,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “That’s the challenging part of a six-month season at the major league level.”

The whirlwind pace has given the Dodgers (12-4) little time to reflect on the torrid start, which included four comebacks from ninth-inning deficits.

They are the 23rd team to open 12-2, according to baseball researcher Mike Carminati. Twelve of the previous 22 finished in first place and six won the World Series.

The average record of the 22 teams, adjusted for a 162-game season, was 97-65. Only one finished below .500.

All that was small consolation after the blowout.

“We had some chances,” Tracy said. “When we tried to get something going, Jennings induced guys to hit ground balls. In this ballpark you have to have your really good sinker, and he had it.”

The Dodgers bounced into two double plays and left nine runners on base, scoring only on Jeff Kent’s fifth home run in the eighth inning.

The Rockies (5-11) scored two runs in the second, third and fourth, then added three in the fifth, knocking out Weaver. Perhaps the most remarkable statistic associated with the Dodgers’ 12-2 start was a 4-2 record when they trailed after eight innings. Now that mark stands even.

“It was just one of those ballgames,” Weaver said. “We’ll get some rest, come back to the park and try to put it on ‘em.”