LOS ANGELES – Melvin Mora scored the go-ahead run on one of three wild pitches by reliever Octavio Dotel in the 10th inning, and the Colorado Rockies nailed a runner at the plate for the final out Wednesday night to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2.
After Dotel's wild flings put the Rockies ahead, they preserved it with two good throws.
With two outs in the Dodgers 10th and Reed Johnson on first base, Scott Podsednik blooped a single in front of center fielder Dexter Fowler. The ball skittered away but Fowler recovered quickly and threw to strong-armed shortstop Troy Tulowitzki near the second-base bag.
Third-base coach Larry Bowa frantically waved home Johnson, but Tulowitzki's relay to catcher Miguel Olivo beat the sliding Dodgers runner by several feet.
The last out wrapped up a night of stellar defensive plays.
Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez, who began the day third in the NL batting race, left with a bruised right knee after slamming against the fence and robbing Casey Blake of an RBI double to end the sixth inning.
Gonzalez was down on the warning track for several minutes with the ball still in his glove, surrounded by manager Jim Tracy and two trainers. Gonzalez left the field under his own power and exchanged high-fives in the dugout with his teammates.
It was 2-all in the 10th when Dotel (2-3) walked Mora with one out. Mora stole second on a strikeout by Eric Young, then advanced on a wild pitch to Fowler, who eventually walked.
Jason Giambi pinch-hit for Ryan Spilborghs, and Mora came home as Dotel bounced another pitch past rookie catcher A.J. Ellis. Dotel uncorked one more wild one before retiring Tulowitzki on a grounder.
Rafael Betancourt (3-1) got the win, striking out both batters he faced in the ninth. Huston Street got three outs for his ninth save in 12 chances, helped by the last-out relay.
Rockies starter Jason Hammel allowed two runs and two hits over six innings, striking out four and walking four.
Los Angeles took the lead in the first when Podsednik scored on Hammel's second wild pitch to Andre Ethier.
Colorado tied it in the second on a bloop RBI double to left field by Olivo, which followed a two-out bloop single to center by Ian Stewart.
The Dodgers regained the lead in the bottom half with Jamey Carroll's RBI double. The Rockies pulled even again in the fourth on Olivo's groundout.
Dodgers right-hander Hiroki Kuroda pitched seven innings, allowing two runs and six hits while striking out seven and walking one.
Dodgers Gold Glove center fielder Matt Kemp, who entered the game in the eighth during a double switch, threw out Fowler that inning as he tried to stretch a leadoff single into a double. It was only his second assist of the season.
Podsednik tried to bunt his way on in the bottom half, but Young charged the ball from second base and made a behind-the-back flip to Todd Helton to get him by a step.
NOTES: Rockies OF Brad Hawpe, one of the cornerstones of the Rockies' 2007 NL championship team and a first-time All-Star last season, cleared waivers on Wednesday amid talk he would be released. He's hitting .255 with seven homers and 37 RBIs. He had a pinch-hit single in the seventh. "He's been an integral part of this ballclub for a long period of time and he's done a lot of very special things and had some very special moments here," Tracy said. "He has been a huge guy in our clubhouse, as far as setting the tone as to how a winning major league player conducts himself. He gets all of that, which is why this situation is so very difficult for me. It's really hard." ... Dodgers SS Rafael Furcal had a setback in his rehab from a strained lower back than has sidelined him since Aug. 3. He will be re-examined on Thursday and undergo a bone scan. "I'm trying to play, trying to get it fine, but I haven't felt good the last couple, three days," Furcal said. "I feel bad." ... Dodgers LF Manny Ramirez (calf injury), began a minor league rehab assignment Wednesday night with high Class-A Inland Empire. But there's no timetable for his return. "It's going to have to eventually be him telling us," manager Joe Torre said. "He has to test it to the point of feeling comfortable going out there, because we don't have the DH in this league and he is going to have to play (left field)."
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